


We're All Goin' Home Satisfied

by MoMoMomma



Series: Animal Instincts [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (2012), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst and Porn, Angst with a Happy Ending, Asgard, Awesome Frigga, BAMF Natasha Romanov, Barebacking, Biting, Blood, Blow Jobs, Bonding, Bruce Banner Feels, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Cat Tony Stark, Catboys & Catgirls, Childbirth, Come Shot, Comeplay, Consensual Infidelity, Crying, Deepthroating, Dirty Talk, Everyone Is Poly Because Avengers, Except For Some People, Face-Fucking, Felching, Fivesome, Fuck This Was Supposed To Be Happy, Hand Jobs, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm so sorry, Impregnation Kink, Jasper Is An Adorable Bunny, Lies and subterfuge, Making Love, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Meddling, Mentions of Past OMC Suicide, Mentions of Past Stillbirth, Multi, Nick Fury Swears, Odin's A+ Parenting, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, PLEASE HEED THE TAGS, Pain, Partner Betrayal, Phil Coulson Feels, Phone Calls & Telephones, Possessive Behavior, Pregnancy, Pregnant Sex, Protective Phil Coulson, Rimming, Rough Sex, Seriously Everyone Is Screwing Everyone In This Thing, Sex Magic, Smart Thor, So Many Liberties With Science, Suicide Note Blame, Technically?, Thor Is Not Stupid, Threesome - M/M/M, Top Phil Coulson, Triggers, Wall Sex, hints of D/s, mentions of past Miscarriage
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-11
Updated: 2013-10-17
Packaged: 2017-12-08 03:38:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 62,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/756584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoMoMomma/pseuds/MoMoMomma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are things that designations accept; regardless of their personal feelings, they don't try to change them. Things like the fact that you procreate once you've found a mate, you don't let a red-zone Canidae bond bite you, and when a mate dies, you mourn and move on with life without them. The general public accepts these facts, generally without question.</p><p>And then there's the Avengers.....</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Wanna Get A Little Frisky

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so my other story is doing massive emotional damage and is hard as hell. So I'm working on it slowly. But this fluffy and porny thing is a nice distraction in the meantime!
> 
> Alternate Universe! Basically, humans with ears and tails of their animal counterparts. As well as animal traits, behaviors, and sometimes instincts. Four basic groups survive; foxes, rabbits, cats, and of course dogs. Within each group there are subgroups of breeds that exist in the animal world as well.
> 
> As always, I hope you guys enjoy and to anyone who's reading the Iron Man AU, I'm working on it slowly, I swear. In the meantime, look for a couple more B/T and H/S one-shots to pop up as I try to recover from the crapfest that is writing torture scenes. :D

Okay, so here’s the thing: Cats? Solitary creatures by nature. Leave them alone and you’ve got the best relationship you can hope for. Tony knows this, he gets it. He always figured that was why his dad was never close with his mom or him. His mom, rest her soul, had always tried to be close to him when she could, brushing her thin tail against his in an attempt to twine the two. He’d never seen his dad’s ears…or tail for that matter. But he always assumed that was who he had inherited the tiger striped ears and tail from. (And whatever moron that had decided to make him a tiger was going to get a box of those Frosted Flakes shoved up their ass if Tony ever found them.)

That is, until Captain Choirboy had gotten de-iced, and it just wasn’t _fair_ that Tony had to slick down his tail and ears every morning whereas Steve popped out of the Arctic with a perfectly coifed golden tail with matching silky ears, and had stopped the first time he’d seen Tony’s own appendages, the billionaire having stepped out of the SHIELD bioshower. (Really, HYDRA? You ignorant asshats. Who used _pheremonal_ warfare anymore?!)

“O-Oh…you’re a cat.” He stammered, ears drooping a bit to match the stupid dumbfounded look on his face.

“Yes. Problem?” Tony hissed, his ears flat and tail twitching behind him in aggravation.

Like there was anything _wrong_ with being a cat. Coulson was a cat. Barton was a cat. Hell, the sweet old lady in the SHIELD cafeteria who Tony’d seen slip Cap extra cookies was a calico! So what in the hell….

“It’s just….uh….your dad…” Steve stuttered out, cocking his head and blinking.

“What about him?!” Tony snapped, hands on his hips and tail stick straight out behind him.

At that point, Clint nudged up behind him, curling a gentle hand around Tony’s tail and letting the genius wind it around his wrist. The smell and touch of another of his kind had _somewhat_ quelled the rage, but it still bubbled as Steve looked more and more confused.

“He was a rabbit, and I looked it up and it said your mom was a lab, so I guess I don’t…understand.”

“He was….Excuse me?!” Tony choked out, eyes wide.

There was **no** freaking way. The asshole who’d never had time for any sort of physical affection, let alone emotional, could not have been one of the most cuddle prone and softest designations out there.

“Uh, yeah. Rabbit. Bunny?” Steve explained, propping his hands on his head with the index fingers straight up in some apparent attempt to play an impromptu game of charades.

Tony scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest, studiously ignoring the way their little argument had attracted the attention of the rest of their boyband, and leaning back into Clint’s hard body. The skin to skin contact comforted him even more and he let out a tiny purr at the arms Hawkeye wrapped around his waist to steady him further. A quick glance around while Steve was still fumbling for words let Tony know the others were torn between amusement, befuddlement, and concern.

Natasha’s red and black-tipped tail was swinging behind her gently, the metronome motion matching the slight smirk on her face. Thor’s huge bushy tail, apparently desginations on Asgard were of Asgardian animals so Pointbreak was something called a Hundr which translated into big ass ears and a tail fluffier than the Akita’s Tony had seen wandering around, was tucked low to his body as he looked between them with a confused tilt to his head. Bruce’s whipcord thin tail was tucked between his legs, his shoulders hunched as if he expected fists to start flying at any moment.

Which, to be honest, Tony could not assure wasn’t a possibility.

“There’s no damn way that alcoholic bastard was a rabbit, Rogers. Maybe he just had really long ears.” Tony stated, and bit back a grin at the way the soldier’s cheeks flushed in anger.

Man, Bait the Boy Scout was turning into his favorite game.

“I don’t think there’s any way for me to be mistaken, Tony. Your dad was a rabbit.”

“Mmmm, yeah? And how are you _so_ sure about that? My dad made an art of deceiving and lying, businessman and all. How do you know he wasn’t just fooling you?”

“Because rabbits are the only designation whose ears are sensitive instead of their tails!”

“And again, Rogers, _deceiver._ Throw in a fake shudder when something brushed his ears, keep them away from other people and _voila!_ Suddenly everyone thinks Howard Stark’s a fluffy bunny.”

Steve clenched his fists at his sides, baring his teeth in a snarl that had Tony’s ears flattening as he hissed in return, Clint gripping on tighter and stiffening at his back.

“I know they were sensitive because if I wanted him to cum, all I had to do was lick them!”

Uh….Um….Oh.

Guess that explained his parent’s lack of affection and the single minded Capsicle search.

Tony’s ears popped back up as he stood there in shock, Rogers clapping a hand over his mouth like a kid who’d said a bad word in front of a teacher. His whole face was flushed blood-red, and for a moment in his haze Tony internally laughed at how they must look, his own face drained of blood and Steve’s filled with it.

He spun on his heel, nearly knocking Clint on his ass and stalked from the room, ignoring Steve’s cries to come back and that he hadn’t mean to say that. Tony padded down the hall, tail twitching with every step, hearing Clint’s soft footsteps behind him. That the lynx was making noise at all meant he wanted Tony to know he was right there, and the presence was a comfort.

Though not as much of one as the person he was seeking out would be.

Tony marched down the long hall, junior agents hopping out of his way and he wondered for a moment at the actions before realizing the low rumble of sound he kept hearing was vibrating from within his own chest. Ugh, damnit Rogers. Not only did he **really** not want the mental image of Captain Chastity-Belt bending his dad over ‘back in the day’, he also wasn’t prepared to deal with the emotional blow of knowing that Howard had a designation that practically _demanded_ he cuddle with those around him, and yet hadn’t even hugged Tony.

He finally came to the doorway he wanted, swinging inside and letting Clint enter after him before slamming it shut. Tony was already working his tie off from around his neck when a dry voice spoke from behind him.

“You two do realize I actually have work to do, right?”

“Shut up. I’m dealing with massive emotional damage right now. Get naked and get on the bed.” Tony said curtly, snapping the lock into place, hearing the creak of springs as Clint folded the worn couch in the corner out into a bed.

He turned, stripping off his jacket, and saw Phil shake his head before setting down his pen. The Agent stood, yanking on his own tie, suit jacket already hanging on the back of his chair. By the time they’d both peeled off all their layers, Clint was already lounging in the middle of the futon, having spread out the soft comforter pulled from behind it. They slipped in on either side of him, their fingertips touching over his navel as he mewled and stretched luxuriously. Tony buried his face in the side of Clint’s neck and started working on gnawing a bruise into the pale flesh while he could feel Phil stroking soothingly up and down the archer’s stomach.

So, alright, back to the topic that was being explained before Captain Cock-killer decided to drop his little atom bomb, cats are mainly solitary creatures.

Except big cats.

There’s a reason lions create prides, they like the feeling of being close to one another just as much as dogs do. Generally, cats that are smaller breeds, like calico’s and egyptian’s, don’t like to cuddle or pile on one another. However, Clint and Tony were breeds that loved to form bonds. Phil, as a black jaguar, was actually more prone to being alone, however he’d been the only cat child in a house full of dog’s and so had gotten very used to the frequent puppy piles and absent grooming touches.

Now, generally if big cats did congregate they didn’t do what Clint, Phil, and Tony did. But, helllooooo. Two super hot, competent, and skilled men? Like Tony wasn’t going to do everything he could so it turned sexual. Lucky for him, Clint and Phil didn’t need much convincing.

“Do I get to know why you’re drawing blood on my top marksman, or no?” Phil’s voice floated over, an amused tone overlaid with just enough bite that Tony took his teeth away, licking off the slight iron taste before pressing a kiss to the raw skin in apology.

“My dad was a rabbit.” Tony muttered, arching into the calloused palm that Clint ran down his spine, curling his tail around the muscled forearm.

“Yes, that’s on record. I thought you knew?”

“No. And I found out because _apparently_ your hero used to fuck him.”

“Tony.” Phil’s stern voice brought Tony’s head up and he blinked at the serious look on the older man’s face.

“Do I need to have a chat with Captain Rogers about, and I can’t believe this is the issue with him, respecting people’s personal comfort zones?”

Tony shook his head and buried it back in Clint’s neck, sucking a bruise high behind one ear. The kitten, and really, compared to Phil and Tony that’s exactly what he was, hence his middle position, whined softly and bucked his hips up, his hard cock bouncing against his abs. Tony reached down and wrapped a hand around him, gently rocking his own firm cock into the sharp curve of one hip as he answered.

“No, it’s fine. Well, it’ll be fine. Come on, Clinty-cat, buck up for me sweetheart. Let me feel you fuck my fist. I provoked it, basically demanded he give me the information, and he thought I had known. So, it’s something I’ll get over with time. I’m pretty sure Bruce is probably giving him hell right now anyhow.” Tony replied, grinning despite the sour words at Clint’s high noise and the rocking motion his hips started in compliance to Tony’s request.

Ah, the exuberance of a kitten. It was a damn good thing Phil and Tony had pulled him in; kitten’s often didn’t get treated how they needed to be by other big breeds, especially if they were medium size breeds like Clint was. But Tony and Phil had certain rules that matched up nicely for kittens; always in the middle of a cuddle, the only ones who get marked, and they always, **_always_** are the first ones to cum.

“Bruce is—ah, Tony, so good—he’s fierce, isn’t he?” Clint gasped out, reached his other hand out to grip onto Phil’s thigh, fingertips digging in to the muscle there.

“His breed tends to be.” Phil murmured, his head dipping to latch onto one of Clint’s tight nipples, drawing out a choked sound from the man.

Phil had a point, Tony mused, keeping the rhythm of his hand steady. Pit bulls like Bruce tended to be on one end of the spectrum or the other; completely aggressive and angry at the world, or gentle and caring, indicative of their pasts as nannies and nursemaids. Bruce had to contend with both, playing the gentle side as a human and trying to desperately control the raging beast the Hulk identified with. Sometimes the lines crossed a bit, but Tony couldn’t say he hadn’t thoroughly enjoyed the few times he’d seen Bruce get so pissed at Cap he’d knocked him on his back and snarled at him, or, on one awesome occasion when Steve was being particularly asshole-ish, locked his teeth around the nape of the younger pup’s neck.

A moan from Clint drew him from his thoughts abruptly and he looked back to see that the lynx had planted his feet wide, and was letting Phil’s lube slick fingers (and really, Tony needed to figure out how in the hell Coulson _always_ had lube) sink in and out of his tight hole. He groaned at the sight, his cock jumping against the archer’s hip, and took his hand off Clint’s erection, ignoring the whine to let his hand join Phil’s. Tony carefully brushed his own fingers against Phil’s until the copious amount of lube the older man had spread on his hand was coating him as well before sinking a finger in to join Phil’s two.

“Ah! Oh, God, you guys. Let me—here, please, let me—“ Clint babbled, arching his hips away.

Phil and Tony sat up obligingly, leaning away slightly as Clint flipped in one smooth motion onto his hands and knees, tail curling seductively above his raised ass once he was in position. Once he had settled, Phil and Tony slipped behind him, both admiring the clenching of their kitten’s tight, slick hole.

“Pretty little pussy, isn’t he?” Tony murmured, and Phil let out a small laugh, nodding as he reached up to trace gentle fingers around the wet pucker.

“He is. And a good boy too. Didn’t even complain about the shower, from what I heard. What do you say, Clint? Want a reward?”

Clint whined and wagged his ass in the air, nodding his head, mussing the sheets he’d buried his face in. Phil shook his head and drew his fingers back, ignoring Clint’s soft sound of protest. He turned and offered his fingers to Tony, hissing low when the tiger the man wrapped his tongue around them, sucking off the slick. A sharp tang on Tony’s tongue had him drawing back, leering at the lynx who had twisted to look at them.

“You cheeky little brat! You’re in pre-heat!”

“He is?” Phil asked, his eye brows rising as he turned to Clint with a stern expression.

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“It’s only…very, very pre. I’ve still got a week or more to go before I actually hit my heat. I’m sorry, please! Please, I was going to tell you.” Clint bit his lip, cutting off any more whines and Tony exchanged a look with Phil, reaching out to pet down his kitten’s flank.

“Hey, hey, take it easy Clinty-cat. We’re not mad, right Phil?” Tony continued after a sharp nod from Phil. “Naw, we’re not mad at all. It’s just, you have to let us know this stuff. I mean, think about it; what if neither of us knew and you suddenly went into heat in the middle of, like, the cafeteria or something? We wouldn’t have any choice but to bend you over and fuck you right then and there, in front of everyone.”

Clint softly moaned at the words, and Tony filed the information away for later teasing. For right now though…

“Whattya say, Agent Agent? You wanna taste his slick? Or do I get the pleasure?” Tony smirked, and Phil shook his head, rolling his eyes as he reached out to trace a gentle hand along Clint’s hole once more.

“I’ll let you. Personally, I’m more concerned with licking his barb.”

At the offhand comment Clint cried out, reaching down to wrap a hand around the base of his cock and squeeze, no doubt cutting off an orgasm. Tony hissed through clenched teeth, seeing Clint’s barb jerk. Man, that was insanely hot. The human designations of cats didn’t have the literal ‘fishhook’ barbs that their animal counterparts did, but rather a separate addition at the base of the penis that would stiffen and prevent pulling out post-orgasm, but then “deflate”, like a penis going soft, and allow for painless removal.

Didn’t mean they still weren’t sensitive as fuck.

Tony nodded to Phil, who was already moving to slide under Clint, before reaching up to grasp Clint’s ass, spreading and kneading him as he whined.

“C’mon, Tony, please? Been a good kitty, right? Please lick me?”

Tony groaned, dropping his mouth to the tight whorl and licking out, chuffing at the tangy slick that tasted like the strawberry lube, salt, and something uniquely Clint that Phil once compared to the taste of carambola. It never got old, hearing Clint sob at the very first strong drag of a tongue over his sensitive little hole, feeling his tail twitch above Tony’s head before coming down to brush over the back of his neck.

When they’d first started this, the very first time Tony had buried his tongue inside Clint and ate the slick out of him, the kitten had actually been in heat and been completely unable to stand the pain any longer, wandering down to where Tony was making yet another cup of coffee in the kitchen. He’d pinned Clint to the kitchen island and yanked his pants down, shoving his tongue deep and sucking out every bit of sweet, viscous liquid he could. His second step, after completely wrecking Clint on his cock, was to call Phil and let him know their little kitten was keeping secrets. Phil hadn’t been pleased but over the course of the heat they’d dragged out of him that he got used to hiding them because of his brother, who would pick fights and try to bite his throat out when he would go into them.

If Tony ever got a hold of Barney Barton, he was going to show that lousy fucking cougar just why he was considered king of the jungle.

Clint bucked against his tongue suddenly, chirruping impatiently to let Tony know his being lost down memory lane had not gone un-noticed.

“Sorry, darling babe.” Tony smirked, moving one hand from the firmness of Clint’s ass to sink two fingers deep into him.

His pretty little lynx cried out and arched at the action, a slick sound from under him indicating Phil had merely swallowed the man deeper. Tony growled at the sounds of Clint’s consistent noises, scissoring his fingers open and curling his tongue between them. God, his kitten was the sweetest, sluttiest thing during these sessions.

It was _amazing_.

He could feel Clint clenching around his fingers, the combination of Tony and Phil’s combined affections driving him over the edge quickly. Tony pulled back a bit to speak to Phil, slipping in another finger so Clint wouldn’t whine too much about the loss of his tongue.

“I think our little Clinty-cat’s about to cum, Phil. Be a sport and save me some, yeah?”

With those words, Tony leaned back in, thrusting his tongue deep and swirling it while he reached down to close his fist over the one Phil had wrapped around Clint’s barb, creating even more pressure. The sensations sent their baby boy tumbling over the edge, jerking his hips between fucking Phil’s face and bucking back onto Tony’s tongue and fingers until he slumped, rolling to the side onto his back. He laid there gasping for air, looking deliciously wrecked, as Phil sat up, swallowing slightly before pulling Tony close with a firm hand on the back of his neck.

Tony moaned into the kiss, tongue curling with Phil’s to trade Clint’s cum back and forth, swallowing before leaning back to taste pure Phil. Clin’s cum tasted semi-sweet, like dark-chocolate, and would only get sweeter closer to his heat. Phil, though, Tony wasn’t sure if it was a jaguar thing or just a Phil thing, but he always tasted sweet. Every single part of him.

Like, seriously, Tony had playfully licked the back of his knee during a massage once and even _it_ was sweet.

“Mmmm, my Feles.” Clint moaned from the side, the old language term for what were basically Alpha cats rolling off his tongue like water.

Tony broke the kiss to lean back, resting his head on Clint’s stomach, reveling in the feel of the kitten’s claws stroking through his hair as he deliberately arched and spread his legs for Phil. The jaguar’s eyes dilated, tail lashing behind him as he caught Tony’s legs behind the knee and shoved upwards, spreading him wide.

“What’cha gonna do, alley cat?” Tony asked, playfully wriggling under Phil’s intense stare.

The man’s answer came in the form of a grumble as he slid to his stomach, tongue flicking out to lick a broad stripe over Tony’s hole.

Oh, holy…fuck.

Tony moaned and reached down to grab his own legs, wantonly spreading himself wide and letting himself get lost in the feeling of Phil’s tongue thrusting deep. The man had to be worked up bad to not tease; dragging it out was his favorite part of the act. Phil was a Felis through and through, and hearing his Gatti beg and plead with him to fuck them was his paradise.

Speaking of…

“Oh! Fuck, Phil, mmm—Ah! Oh, feels so good. Can you—Can you fuck me? Please, please, Felis. Wanna feel you lock in and fill me up. Mmmm, come on! Come on, darling, breed me.”

Phil yanked back with a hiss, hand fumbling over to the side before coming back and spreading slick around the spit already coating Tony’s hole. He arched and moaned at the feeling, spreading his legs so wide his hips ached with the action and his tail, pinned comfortably beneath him, twitched. Phil scooted closer and brushed the head of his thick cock against Tony a few times, earning more than a few curses from the tiger, before sinking in deep with one thrust.

 “Oh god! Ah, fuck. Oh, Phil…so fucking deep. Yes, yes, yes.” Tony moaned, rolling his head backwards against Clint’s hard stomach as Phil set a punishing rhythm, slamming their hips together so hard Tony’s cock bounced in time with the thrusts.

Phil settled his shoulders behind Tony’s knees, shoving him up and opening him for harder thrusts just as Clint reached around to lazily pump his cock, fingers dancing and claws retracted for safety.

“Tony, you’re so tight. Always feel so good around my cock. Going to fill you up, have it leaking out of you. Reach down, Gatto, grab your ass and spread it. Open yourself up for me.”

Sir, yes, sir!

Tony reached down with a groan, obediently spreading himself wide and then crying out at how sensitive it made him. He could feel the rumble of Clint’s purr rolling through the younger man, rubbing his head backwards against the man to try and scent him as much as possible during this. Clint laughed low and his other hand came up to rest gently on the edge of the arc reactor, tracing where metal met flesh. Tony whined at the contact, hips jumping and cock pulsing in Clint’s hand.

“Come on, Tony. Please? You got my cum, I wanna lick yours up too.”

Clint’s low whine in his ear is what finally sent Tony off, spilling over the lynx’s agile fingers with a jumble of endearments, declarations of love, and his lover’s names. Phil paused for a moment at the tight clench of Tony’s muscles, every part of his body trembling before he shoved against him hard and Tony felt the catch as his barb locked in. The strange pull was delicious enough to have his spent cock twitching once more.

Of course, that also could’ve been the sight of Clint licking his cum off with tiny little strokes of his tongue like it was melted chocolate.

Phil slipped Tony’s legs off his shoulder and to the mattress carefully, resting his weight on the bed itself instead of Tony’s body and letting his forehead touch the arc reactor as he breathed through the aftershocks. Experience told Tony Phil would stay locked for no more than fifteen minutes. Apparently, all Felidae locked for a shorter period of time when they were with the same sex, a trait shared by Canidae as well.

“That was amazing.” Clint breathed, stretching out under Tony’s head, fingers stroking over Tony’s ears.

“Agreed. Mores the pity of what caused it.” Phil remarked, head still tilted down.

Tony shrugged and ran his fingers through his Felis’ hair, dancing along the edges of the ears that flicked gently in response.

“I dunno. The outcome justifies the means right? Plus, like I said, I’m sure Bruce is giving Steve a hell of a punishment anyhow.”

“And wouldn’t I pay to see that.” Clint laughed, earning agreeing chuckles from the other two.

Tony settled in, smiling still at the press of his mates around him. Soon enough Phil would pull free and clean both he and Clint off gently before sending them on their ways with playful swats to their asses for interrupting him. Then Clint and Tony would wander back to the house and curl up somewhere together, wait for him to come home, and then probably fuck once more in Tony’s bed before passing out for the night.

So yeah, cats are solidary creatures by nature. By every rule in the book he should want to live his own life, not tying himself to people who meant something, people he came close to losing, people he’d already thought he lost once.

But who said anything about Anthony Stark ever following the rules?


	2. Touch Me and Gimme That Rush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve Rogers has some apologies to make, Bruce Banner is only a so strong, Thor makes awesome plans, and puppy piles are more intricate than one would assume.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Such an awesome over-whelming response! I'm really glad you guys are loving this, I am too if it's not plainly obvious. :D
> 
> So, the dynamic's get a little more confusing in this one. Here's the best way I can describe it. Steve is submissive to Bruce, but if Thor is there, Bruce and Steve are both submissive to him. Bucky is submissive to Thor and Bruce, but Thor's orders come first. Bruce submits to Thor in his presence, but is dominant over Bucky and Steve when Thor is gone. Thor is dominant over Bucky, Steve, and Bruce, but allows Bruce more dominance than the two puppies.
> 
> That helped...absolutely nothing, I think. So, regardless, I hope you guys enjoy!

“I’m very sorry.”

Bruce raised his head at the low voice, resolutely not turning his head but instead saving the research notes he’d been writing and erasing them from the screen.

“I don’t feel as though I’m the one you need to apologize to.” He said, keeping his voice light and calm despite the coil of instinct aching in his gums, demanding supplication and punishment.

“I…uh. Well I apologized to Tony. He accepted it…I think. He hit me with his pad thingy and told me I was an—er—asshat? And then asked me about design modifications on my suit.”

Bruce pulled his glasses off, setting them on the table before finally looking over to see Steve standing there, ears pressed flat to his head and tail so far between his legs the tip brushed the front of his knee. His entire body was a study in submission and for a moment, Bruce wanted nothing more than to pet him and tell him everything was alright.

But Steve had been in the wrong and even if Tony forgave him, Bruce wasn’t quite ready to.

“You still have apologies to give. One to each team member, as well as to Phil as Tony’s Felis. You two are the leaders of this powder keg and dissention in the ranks makes every single one of us uncomfortable.”

“I know. I know, and I’m fully prepared to offer reparations as they see fit. I just…I wanted to start with you…Canem.”

The term of respect was whispered lowly and Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand and gesturing Steve closer with the other. Almost instantly he felt the broad spread of Steve’s shoulders edging his thighs further apart. Reaching out a hand, he threaded his fingers through Steve’s hair, mussing it from the old-fashioned style, before capturing the side of one soft ear between his thumb and index finger.

“I know you miss them. Miss everyone.” He murmured and Steve whined low, burying his face in Bruce’s stomach, nodding against his shirt.

“I do. I mean, I still have Bucky, and that’s amazing. But…when I look at him, I can’t help but--“

“Remember Howard?”

Steve whimpered at the name and Bruce ran his other hand soothingly across his back. He recalled Steve telling him that he, Bucky, and Howard had made quite the spectacle back in his time. It was unusual nowadays to see dogs befriending a rabbit, Bruce could only imagine the reaction to Steve and Bucky’s possessive touches and nuzzles back in the 40’s. He knew Steve wasn’t the only one suffering from memories either, he’d often seen Bucky curled up with his head in Thor’s lap, watching old tapes of Howard that Tony had dug up for them. The Winter Soldier had clung to the god as a Canem once he’d been cognitively recalibrated, and Bruce never again wanted to see just how hard Thor could punch someone, the Hundr being the first one in his sights when he woke up.

Bruce wasn’t complaining, mind you. He had no idea how in the world he’d gotten _Captain_ _America_ as a Kyon, but somehow or another he had and he didn’t want to responsibility to trying to adjust two men to the new century along with trying to keep the Other Guy from scooping them up when he was out to hide them away.

“Canem?”

“Hmmm, yes?”

“Do you…I mean, do you think maybe…that machine you said you and Tony were working on. Do you think it could actually work?”

Bruce shrugged, petting the back of Steve’s neck soothingly. The Temporal Displacement Reactor was incredibly unstable and they had no idea what would happen if it did work and displaced someone from another time.

Bruce wasn’t too trusting of the “if it happens, it means it’s supposed to happen” theory that Tony spouted off.

“I’m really not sure, Steve. I think that maybe it could, but I also thought the serum I was creating would work and look at how that turned out.” He laughed mirthlessly, pulling back when Steve rocked back to sit on his calves, ears straight up and twitching.

“I think you’re perfect how you are! Without it, you wouldn’t be who you are today and that would have been the true tragedy, Bruce.”

If Steve hadn’t become a soldier, Bruce had a sneaking suspicion he’d do fantastic as a motivational speaker.

“Maybe, maybe not. Either way, that’s not up for debate. The issue at hand here is your apology.”

Steve’s tongue flicked out to wet his lips and he nodded, tail swishing contentedly behind him as he gazed up at the older man.

“Yes. How do you want me to apologize, sir?”

Bruce fought back a shiver, ignoring the calculating glint in Steve’s eyes. Whoever said that Steve was innocent obviously didn’t know the man very well at all.

“You know _exactly_ how I’d like you to apologize, Kyon. Want to?”

Steve nodded furiously, ears flicking with the motion, rubbing his hands up and down the insides of Bruce’s thighs. Bruce bit his lip and unzipped his slacks, hooking his thumbs into the waistband of them and his underwear, shoving it all down. He let Steve strip the the tangle of cloth off his legs after pulling off his shoes, spreading his thighs wide to accommodate the soldier that scooted between them.

“Should I be me? Or him?” Bruce asked gently, catching Steve’s chin with his fingers and bringing it up so he was staring into darkened blue eyes.

Steve’s gaze wavered for a moment, a sheen spreading before he blinked it back and shook his head.

“Your apology. It’s not for me. Want you to be you.” He murmured, before grasping the base of Bruce’s cock and sinking his mouth down on it.

The pit bull gasped at the sensation, ears flicking and tail lashing for a moment before he settled, the claws of one hand digging into the lab table while the others scratched along the retriever’s scalp. Steve was worshipful in his submission, not a teasing fellow Kyon like Bruce had seen him be with Bucky, or a whimpering pup as he’d witnessed with Thor.

Ah, but then, neither of those were his Canem, were they?

Bruce spread his legs wider, back arching at the wet, hot suction of Steve’s mouth, closing his eyes against the orgasm-inducing sight of those cherry red lips stretched wide around his cock. He gripped onto the hair between his fingers, careful not to nick the man’s sensitive ears, and tried to center himself.

It was odd, being able to be himself during an act like this. That wasn’t to say it didn’t often happen, but it generally wasn’t because Steve wanted Bruce. That wasn’t how their relationship worked.

Unlike Tony, Clint, and Phil who actually had a functioning relationship where the Alpha’s took care of the one’s below them both sexually and not, Bruce and Steve didn’t often have sex. Sure, when Steve’s heat hit he’d come to Bruce and beg to be knotted, but otherwise Bruce merely comforted and looked after the puppy. Thor and Bucky had a similar relationship, though Bruce thought they were probably intimate more often than he and Steve were.

“I’m doing good?” The question brought Bruce’s thoughts back around and he smiled down at his pup, nodding and chuffing.

“Yeah, pup, you’re doing great. Feels fantastic when you work me over with your mouth.” Bruce murmured, almost laughing at the way Steve grinned and sucked him back down, swallowing more of his cock this time.

Steve was ridiculously good at this, always eager to please, and Bruce had wondered more than once if he owed a big thank you to Howard Stark for that.

He’d known about their relationship, anyone who did any type of research on Steve Rogers did, but he still had been thrown for a loop when Steve had cried out the late inventor’s name during orgasm. A part of him ached for Steve and Bucky, knowing what it was like to love someone and have them taken from you by circumstances you couldn’t predict. The two hid it incredibly well, but there were times when it showed through; he and Bucky leaving a space between them on the couch before slowly scooting together once they realized no one was snuggling in to fill it, fingering the dog tags they both wore that were missing the smaller tag and chain, rubbing over the Stark Industries symbol that littered just about everything in the house with sad eyes.

Maybe he would look over the Temporal Displacement blueprints once more when he was finished here.

A flick of Steve’s tongue against the thick vein that ran up the bottom of his cock jerked Bruce back to the situation at hand and he came up out of his seat, moving his other hand to fist blonde strands in it as well. He pulled Steve back until his cock popped free of the pup’s mouth, huffing at the disappointed whine Steve let out. Bruce growled softly when Steve’s tongue stretched out, catching the tip of his cock, a warning that Steve obeyed, closing his mouth and looking up at Bruce with a patient expression.

“I’m gonna fuck your throat, Kyon. I wanna feel your tongue on my knot, sound good? Be a good little puppy and we’ll consider the apology accepted.” Bruce said, smirking at the way Steve’s ears flopped as he nodded as enthusiastically as he could with Bruce’s hand still in his hair.

Captain America was a desperate little slut, and Bruce Banner was a lucky son of a bitch.

He tightened his grip and let Steve guide him into his mouth, waiting until the retriever settled his hands on his hips before thrusting hard, gritting his teeth at the small gagging sounds. The first time Steve had begged Bruce to do this, he’d kept pausing when Steve would gag, until the pup finally pulled back, spit slicking down his chin and throat and hoarsely growled words at him that echoed in his head every time they did this.

_“Goddamnit, Canem, I wanna choke on your cock! Please, Bruce, make me gag on it. He used to—Please!”_

Bruce shifted his feet a few inches further apart, shoving Steve’s mouth further down until he felt that same wet pressure lick around the base of his knot. He gritted his teeth and held the pup still, moving his hips rather than Steve’s head, his groans and growls echoing the small chokes and whimpers Steve let out.

He wouldn’t knot, not like this. Unlike Felidae who would catch every time they orgasmed, dogs would only knot when their partner was in heat.

Lucky thing too, Bucky had once regaled them all with a horror story of trying to blow a Canem when he was in heat and almost getting the knot caught behind his teeth.

Bruce snarled at the sudden feeling of Steve rhythmically swallowing around his cock, having caught enough of a rhythm to take breaths in between thrusts. He separated his teeth, panting with his mouth open as he slid closer and closer to the edge. Pit bulls were an unlucky breed when it came to orgasms and mating bites. If a pit bull had their teeth locked, either together or around a piece of flesh, when they orgasmed, their jaw would lock in place like their animal counterparts. The first time Bruce had ever masturbated he’d been unlucky enough to clench his teeth when he came and spent the next half hour pressing warm washcloths to his jaw and massaging it before it unlocked for him.

It was hell, but the idea of being locked into a mate by knot and teeth…..

He threw his head back and howled, eyes slamming shut as he spilled down Steve’s throat, yanking the blonde close and bucking at the feeling of Steve gulping down his cum. It went on so long by the time Bruce was done his legs had damn near lost feeling. Thankfully Steve was used to it and caught him when he toppled forward, settling Bruce against him and nuzzling into his neck.

“Jesus, that was fucking hot.”

“Aye.”

The growled words brought Bruce and Steve’s heads around, Bruce shakily pushing back the curls that had fallen into his eyes during orgasm. Bucky and Thor were standing just inside the doors of the lab, the border collie leaning back against the Hundr with a hand cupped around himself.

Bruce grinned in response, shifting himself up and away until he was sitting on the stool once more, meeting Thor’s eyes.

“Steve, did you apologize to Thor yet?” He asked, and Steve shook his head, licking his lips while Thor’s eyes widened in understanding of the question.

“No. But I’d really like to.” The pup answered, his voice a hoarse grumble that made Bruce’s cock give a valiant twitch as he tucked it back inside the underwear he’d scooped up on his way to the stool.

“Wait, apologize? For what?” Bucky strode forwards, settling near Steve and licking into his mouth, whining at the taste he found there.

“I…told Tony about Howard and me.” Steve answered quietly, and Bucky stiffened before pressing a kiss to his temple.

“Kitty-cat needs to learn to suck it up.”

“Actually, I rather think that’s Steve’s job, at the moment.” Bruce teased, as Thor crossed the room to lift his chin for a kiss.

He complied easily, opening his mouth for the older Canem’s tongue and chuffing in disappointment when he pulled away. Thor huffed out a laugh and pressed a condescending kiss to Bruce’s forehead, an act that would have gotten anyone else snapped at. Before Bruce had met Thor, he’d never met a Canem who the Other Guy would roll over for, choosing instead to snarl at anyone who tried to force their hand. But there was something about the alien Canidae that made the Guy huff and submit, if only during their times together.

“Whattya say, Canem? Gonna let Steve suck forgiveness outta you too?” Bucky asked, bringing Thor’s head up and around.

A wide grin split the god’s face when Bucky shifted, his legs falling open and a sweet scent filling the air. Bruce breathed in deeply, his own mouth stretching into a smile at the flush on the collie’s face.

“Aye, I shall. But mayhap I shall wait for a bit of time. You are on the cusp of your heat, Valp. And I cannot think of anything more enticing than the idea of letting him clean your heat-slick from my knot once I’ve filled you.”

Thor’s words drew matching moans from both the Kyons as the Hundr laughed, a booming noise that shook Bruce from where he was pressed to his chest.

“And you? Will you knot me too?” Bucky asked, the dark red on his face deepening though his eyes were steady as they locked with Bruce’s.

The Pit nodded, reveling in the joy that danced in the Winter Soldier’s eyes as he nuzzled back into Steve’s hair, growling playfully when the retriever shoved at him. Thor cuddled him closer, Bruce allowing the contact and grinning at the Other Guy’s grumble of contentment, as they watched Steve and Bucky shove back and forth for a moment before Bucky pounced, pinning Steve down to gnaw at one ear as the younger pup kicked and batted at him. Bruce was struck with the sudden wonder of how Howard Stark would have looked between the two as they wrestled, the photograph of the dark haired young man he’d glimpsed on Steve and Bucky’s nightstand giving him a mental picture to work from.

Rabbit weren’t aggressive, by general means, but they did love to bounce around and play just as puppies did. Bruce thought for a moment, a shiver passing down his spine that brought a questioning look to Thor’s face, about how Bucky and Steve would no doubt soon give up their attempts at rough-housing the moment one of Howard’s ears got brushed and the man moaned. Bruce was only still a Canem, he watched porn, and the hottest thing he’d ever seen had been an old film where a rabbit had gotten pinned down and had his ears licked, sucked, and gnawed on until he’d painted his flat stomach with cum, merely from the touches alone.

Oh yes, he would certainly get to work on that Temporal Displacement Reactor.

After Bucky’s heat.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so before this crap gets any more confusing, here's a little dictionary of terms used so far. I'll update this as we go.
> 
> Felidae: Cats, and this designation covers everything from the big cats to the domesticated breeds.  
> Canidae: Dogs, covering everything from feral to domesticated. Thor also falls in this category by default.  
> Felis: The term of respect meaning an Alpha Felidae. This can be used affectionately, but is also used by the military to refer to someone of higher standing. Plural being Feles.  
> Gatto: Term of affection, generally, used to refer to what amounts to an Omega Felidae. Kittens are also called this by their elders until they reach a certain age. Plural being Gatti.  
> Canem: Term of respect meaning an Alpha Canidae. Also used by the military in terms of respect for the chain of command, used affectionately as well.  
> Kyon: Term of affection used to refer to an Omega Canidae. Also used to refer to puppies until they reach a certain age.  
> Valp: Norwegian term of affection; meaning "puppy".


	3. Too Dirty To Clean My Act Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce and Thor leave Phil in charge of their pups while they're gone, leading to an interesting romp and some dirty memories from our favorite soldiers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this may very well squick some people out so be warned! There is talk of one relative while another is involved in the sex. Not incest in any way, but there are boundaries regardless. Also talk of DP, and I do not mean Deadpool! (Who, btw, in this universe is a rabbit to his never ending despair)
> 
> As always, enjoy! And since I brought up the Deadpool thing, are there any characters you guys would love to see pop into this universe that started off as a way to blow off steam and is transforming into this massive complicated thing?

Phil came awake the next morning to suspiciously cool sheets on either side of him where Tony and Clint normally cuddled…and a wet, hot suction around his cock. He groaned and arched up, reaching down with a smile that quickly faded when he encountered silky ears longer than his own Gatti had. Phil yanked his hands away and propped himself up on his forearms, looking down with wide eyes to see a blonde head nestled between his legs, silky tail wagging happily in the air above a perfect ass.

“Steve?” He gasped out, earning himself a hard suck before the Captain raised his head with an impish smile, licking his red lips.

“Good morning!” He barked happily before sucking Phil back down with a low rumble of contentment.

A beep from his side table had Phil knocking off his reading glasses and the bottle of lube left over from last night before his hand closed around his Starkphone, pulling it close to his face to read the text from Bruce displayed on the screen.

_Went to Asgard to research dimensional travel. Take care of our Kyons for us, please. Bucky’s near his heat, will be back in time._

He dropped the phone next to his head with a groan, reaching a hand down to tweak one of Steve’s ears, popping that hot mouth off him once more. Phil braced himself up on his forearms and blinked down at the pup who was amusing himself with watching Phil’s tail where it flicked and twitched against his chest.

“I’m in charge, apparently. And…this is how you wake me up?”

“Yeah…um, if that’s alright? I mean, I only came in to just get you for breakfast but you smelled so good and when I licked you, you tasted like Clint and Tony and I just couldn’t stop—“

Phil held up a hand to silence him, letting it fall back to the mattress in tandem with the closing of Steve’s mouth. He regarded the pup in the silence, taking in the red lips and mussed hair, ears flattened to his head in shame. Bruce and Thor leaving him in charge wasn’t anything new really. He’d left them in charge of Clint and Tony when he’d been sent off on missions before.

Hell, Natasha had left him in charge of Pepper before. And wasn’t that awkward to act as a Felis to a Vulpae who you normally ate lunch with.

But over the course of their time together after the Avenger’s Initiative had formed and Tony had cautiously brought up the idea of bringing everyone to live in the tower with he and Clint, Steve had shifted from being someone Phil had looked up to as a child to a cautious jogging partner in the mornings to a Kyon who would pull he, Clint, and Tony into puppy piles. He’d never done anything more sexual than whine for a few kisses and nuzzle into Phil’s throat when Clint and Tony were in medical, so this was….out of character completely.

“I’m not mad, not at all. I’m…confused. Help me understand this, Steve. You’re never this overtly sexual towards me, even in the absence of Bruce and Thor.” Phil explained, and Steve nuzzled into the curve of his hip.

He seemed about ready to answer when the door of the bedroom slid open, revealing Tony and Clint who barged in with happy grins that slid off slowly when they took in the scene. Good thing they were pushing a cart of food, not carrying trays because at the sight of Steve kneeling between his legs both their tails curved and hisses filled the room. Steve scrambled backward, baring his teeth and snarling in response to the aggression. Phil shoved himself up into a sitting position and whistled, the sound cutting through the room, silencing the Petros.

“ **Enough.** Steve, come here and sit. You’re not in trouble, I’m just curious. Clint, Tony, you too. You all just stopped fighting with one another, don’t start up again.”

They moved silently, Steve settling back between his legs cautiously, like he was still going to get swatted by either of the kittens that settled into their usual spots on either side of Phil. He let Tony nip at the curve of his jaw and Clint rub against him, each marking their territory in their own ways, waiting patiently until Clint reached out and booped Steve’s nose, a friendly marker of forgiveness.

“I…uh…well, see here’s the thing, I was studying ancient cultures, the designations and how they behaved. And I read that it wasn’t odd to see a whole group of Canidae, Felidae, Vulpae, and even some Leporidae forming these massive groups of intertwining dominants and submissives and I thought maybe, since we’re all already a team, that we could…” Steve paused to take a breath and Phil, getting the gist of his line of thinking, raised a hand to stop any further words.

“You want to form a Stirpe? Those still exist in this day, Steve, but it’s extremely complicated. Most of the time, fights break out between designations and pairings and they fall apart because of it. Is there….another reason why you’re searching out such contact?”

The dart of Steve’s eyes between Tony and the bedsheets told Phil all he needed to know and he sighed, reached out a hand to pet Steve’s head gently, the retriever rolling into his palm. He had a feeling this was all tied back to Howard Stark, everything was lately it seemed. Phil had seen Bucky and Steve move around like there was something, or more aptly someone, missing from between them. If they had been as bonded as records indicated, and an old picture of Howard Stark in his file stripped down to his boxers with a bonding bite on each side of his neck was a hell of an indicator, Bucky and Steve probably felt like someone had ripped out a vital organ and replaced it with a sandbag, even if they both had found Canem.

Damn, if the man hadn’t been such a bastard to Tony growing up, Phil would be more driven to find a way to bring him here.

A soft sound from his Gatto in question had Phil glancing over to see Tony moving down the bed towards Steve, pulling the pup into his arms by his shaking shoulders, purring desperately as he nuzzled into his hair. Steve responded with a low whine, like a dog that had gotten hit, burying his face in Tony’s chest and sobbing. An ache set up in Phil’s chest as he watched Clint sidled up on Steve’s other side, winding their tails together and rubbing his face against Steve’s shoulder blade. Tony shot him a desperate look, the look of a fellow Petro who just couldn’t comfort his friend and was hoping for the help of a Provectus.

Phil reached out, grasping Steve’s shaking shoulders and pulling him in tight, brushing soft kisses onto his ears. Clint and Tony knelt on the end of the bed, shifting uncertainly as if unsure what their next actions should be.

“Go find Bucky. He’ll need comfort too.” Phil said, nodding towards the door and running a slow hand down Steve’s back.

They nodded and took off, racing from the room like they were after prey. The quickness wasn’t uncalled for, to be honest. Kyon’s who had bonded as tightly as Bucky and Steve had tended to have a preternatural awareness of the other’s emotions and mental stability. It made for fantastic info if SHIELD captured one of them, torture two for the price of one, but it was hell if one of them was a friend. Comforting two heartbroken Kyon’s, especially those who were letting their emotions show to others for what Phil assumed was the first time given the lack of comments from either Bruce or Thor, was a task to be undertaken.

“Hey, hey, darling pup, what do you need? How can I fix this?” Phil murmured, his breath gusting over Steve’s ears, making them twitch slightly.

“I-I wan-want Howard!” Steve howled, gripping onto Phil’s hips so tightly he shifted.

He wouldn’t mind the bruises, all in a day’s work for acting as a Provectus for another, but Clint and Tony were possessive little shits who would spend hours licking and sucking at them. Phil simply didn’t have time to be pinned to a bed by two horny and jealous Gatti.

“I know, I know. Hey, tell me about him, would you?” Phil asked, dancing light fingers over the base of Steve’s tail.

It wagged slightly as Steve pulled back and cocked his head, cheeks flushed and streaked with tear tracks, eyes still puffy and wet. Phil settled back against the headboard, tucking the pillows behind his lower back, and gestured in a welcoming fashion.

“You…you’re sure? I mean…Bruce and Thor always said I could but…I never wanted to talk about him to my Canem’s. You wouldn’t mind?” Steve asked, tail wagging cautiously behind him, still tucked low like Phil was going to laugh and call it a joke.

“Of course I wouldn’t. It’s not like he didn’t exist, he was a huge part of your life. You and Bucky don’t talk about him?”

Steve let out a low laugh, a dark sound that was the auditory equivalent of rolling fine wine over one’s tongue, settling against Phil’s chest. He pressed a kiss to Phil’s pec, shifting until his hip was tucked against Phil’s now soft cock, draping his tail over a thigh.

“Oh, no, we do. All the time. We just usually get so turned on reminiscing that we fuck halfway through.”

Now it was Phil’s turn to laugh, the filthy word from the lips of a national icon sending a shockwave down his spine. Thor had always bragged, in the way that a proud Provectus does, that the quiet and proper Kyon had a filthy mouth in bed, but Phil hadn’t believed it until now.

“Well then, maybe I’ll get lucky after all. Go ahead, Steve. I’m actually curious to hear about the other side of Howard Stark.”

Phil could have smacked himself at the way his words made Steve stiffen and pull back slightly, staring into Phil’s eyes with an apologetic look. He reached out and settled the pup back physically, knowing the whole time that he couldn’t have budged Steve if he hadn’t wanted to be moved.

“He may have been a shitty father, and I may want to beat the man for giving Tony half the complexes he had before I claimed him and we claimed Clint. But I’m also a realist and I know that you can’t read half the story and assume you know the plot. He wasn’t always a father, he was once a just a Coniglio. A Leporidae who loved, and was loved by, two of the bravest soldiers I’ve ever met. That Howard Stark, regardless of what he became as he aged, is who I want to know about.”

Phil could feel Steve smile against his skin after he ended his monologue, and ruffled the Kyon’s hair.

“I wouldn’t mind hearing it either.”

Tony’s low words from the doorway brought both their heads up, Phil moving quickly to avoid getting his chin smacked by Steve’s jerk. He stood there just behind Bucky who looked like he wanted nothing more than to dive into bed with them and Phil sighed, motioning them all closer, thanking whatever deity looked down on them that Tony Stark was a hedonist and had a bed big enough to fit all the Avengers if he felt so inclined.

Bucky slid in first, arranging himself in a purposeful sprawl on his stomach with his arms propped on one of Steve’s powerful thighs, tail curled low in submission as he thanked Phil with his gaze. Tony slid in near the soldier, lying with his arm holding up his head, bicep braced across Bucky’s back just above the base of his tail. Clint, the last one to settle, climbed up near Phil, nudging under his arm so he was close enough to brush a kiss over Steve’s forehead and twining his legs together with his fellow Gatto.

“You’re sure this is alright?” Steve asked, eyes catching Tony’s. “The last time I brought him up you looked like you were gonna claw my eyes out.”

“I wasn’t prepared then. You dropped a bomb on me. But I’m a cat, curiosity kills, satisfaction revives, all that good crap. So I wanna know what my old man was like before he became…well, my old man.” Tony replied with a practiced shrug, the ease of his words telling Phil that this situation was merely ideal, that Tony would have asked Steve or Bucky eventually anyways.

Steve nodded and settled back, a hand moving from where he’d been stroking over Phil’s stomach to play with the dog tag around his neck.

“Howard was…you’re right on some counts Tony, he was an asshole. This arrogant little Coniglio who would flick his ears at anyone who tried to give him orders and bound away laughing in the face of a Provectus.”

“I thought I was gonna have to eat him when I first met him.” Bucky murmured, and Steve nodded in agreement.

“Right. He had this amazing habit where he could make you love him one second and the next you were trying to figure out how to get your teeth in his throat. When I first met him, actually met him instead of seeing him on stage at that Expo, it was right before I got the serum. He was so sure of himself, so arrogant in the surety that he could do it, he made me think it was actually going to work. It did, obviously, and I still remember one of the first thing’s I felt falling out of that machine was his hand on my stomach.”

Steve paused and shivered, emitting a low sound that Bucky echoed, in voice and action. Phil arched a brow at Tony who merely shrugged, repeating the action when Steve glanced over to him.

“Hey, I know you guys fucked. You don’t think that when I’m alone I jack it to memories of Clint and Phil? No different. In a way, like this, it doesn’t seem like he’s my dad. He sounds so different from the person I grew up knowing…almost like this guy’s just a stranger I’m hearing about.”

“He was different.” Bucky murmured, moving his hips so Tony leaned more comfortably on him. Steve nodded, shifting himself deeper into the twine of bodies.

“He was. I met him again when I was going to rescue Bucky. He flew me into an active warzone, in his own plane no less!”

“Huh. Old man had some balls apparently.” Tony commented, Steve and Bucky grinning before nodding.

“Hell yeah he did. And more so than that. When we finally got back from the hell hole, Howie invited us to his tent to ‘celebrate our return’.” Bucky said, the air quotes practically visible around the words.

Clint chuffed, looking down at the man with a wide grin.

“Lemme guess, he was naked?”

“Not just naked,” Steve broke in, Bucky’s mouth falling closed and twisting into a grin. “Naked, legs spread, and stretching himself out on his fingers.”

The soldier moaned at the memory, shifting as Phil spied Bucky’s hips jerk at the sound, and at the memory going by the glaze in his eyes, thrusting into the mattress. He was about to say something about it, stop it before it got too much, when he realized all the eyes were on Tony, who looked unperturbed.

“What. Hey, I already said it’s like he’s a stranger. You guys call him Howie, and I think this happy go lucky little Leporidae, not my pops. Go ahead and talk nasty all you want, I’m just gonna lean back and revel in the fact that I look enough like my old man that you guys are probably drooling after my ass every time I bend over.” He smirked, tail flicking behind him playfully as Bucky rolled his eyes, shooting Steve a dark grin.

“Talk nasty, Stark? You couldn’t handle it. We’d have you clapping your hands over your ears like a schoolmarm.”

“Try me.” Tony bared his teeth, purposefully digging his arm a bit deeper into Bucky’s back and grinning at the grunt the man let out.

Phil rolled his eyes in tandem with Clint, brushing a kiss on his Gatto’s forehead. Tony wasn’t joking; it was unlikely they were going to squick him. The man had been raw and bleeding during a heat that was ridiculously long and licked the blood off Phil’s knot while he begged to get fucked again.

You really can’t embarrass someone who’s done that.

“Alright, fair enough. We did warn you. So we walk in and he’s stretching himself, lazy as you please. Now, Howard didn’t know us, didn’t know how we swung, but it didn’t really seem to matter much to him, to be honest. He was arrogant, like I said. Figured everyone wanted to fuck him.”

“Did you?” Clint asked Steve curiously, shifting and brushing the start of an erection over Phil’s hip.

The solider nodded, glancing at Bucky with a wicked grin that looked almost sacrilegious on such a pure face.

“Oh yeah. Bucky first, he’d been gone so long. Fucked him loose enough that I could slide right in, left him wet and dripping with so much cum I didn’t have to scour around and find any lube. Not the best time we ever had, but a memorable one, certainly.”

“Did you knot him?” Phil asked, trailing gentle fingers down the knobs of Steve’s spine, curious about how two Canidae would act with a Leporidae.

“Not then, no.” Bucky answered, shifting his hips and reaching under himself to adjust his cock.

“No, that came later. Right after he gave Steve that fancy shield he still carries around. Man, you shoulda heard how he _squealed_ when Steve shoved his thick fucking knot in him. See, here’s the great thing about rabbits, they’re **always** in pre-heat, just waiting for that little shove to knock them into a full blown estrus. Get them worked up enough and it’s like flipping a switch, they just start leaking like a sieve. Howard, all you had to do was suck on his ears a little bit, maybe bite down, and he’d cum all over himself and soak the sheets with his heat-slick.”

“Needy little slut.” Phil murmured, smirking at the way Steve and Bucky moaned, their hips jumping at the words, or the memories, he wasn’t really sure which.

“Oh yeah. Needy and demanding. One time, he caught me fifteen minutes before we had to be in a meeting with Colonel Philips and the Howling Commando’s. Shoved me into a broom closet and told me I had two minutes to get my cock in him or he was going to find someone else to knot him.”

“Please tell me you beat his ass.” Tony said, unashamed of the erection straining the cloth of his cotton sleep pants.

“Nope.” Steve popped the ‘p’ of the word, grinning down at Bucky who licked his lips and returned the wicked expression.

“No, luckily Buck wasn’t too far behind me and saw he’d yanked me in there. So he comes in just as Howard’s fucking himself on his fingers, begging for my cock. Remember what you said to him, Bucky?”

The soldier moaned, flipping over onto his back, mindless of Tony who slumped over his stomach at the change in position, hissing until Bucky reached over him to grip onto his cock through his jeans.

“Oh yeah, yeah, every word of it.”

“What’d you say?” Clint whispered, his voice hoarse like he’d been deep-throating Phil.

Bucky grinned up at them with a dark expression of wickedness, like a dog who’d realized his owners had left the pizza sitting unguarded on the coffee table.

“I told him if he was that desperate to get filled, that much of a heat-slut, maybe Steve and I should both stick our cocks in him. Stretch him out like a whore and see if his tight little ass could be fucked loose enough to take both our knots.”

“Oh, Jesus fucking Christ.” Tony snarled, yanking off his pants and tossing them off the side, reaching down to drag Bucky into a kiss by his dark hair.

Phil allowed it with amusement, the sight of his Gatto so worked up and writhing against a Kyon getting to him as well. He nudged Clint when the man looked on nervously, prompting the lynx to shift closer until Tony noticed him and dragged him down too, batting at Clint’s shorts until he got them off, all three of them pressing together completely naked.

Phil had never been happier about the fact that they all apparently slept without shirts and procrastinated putting them on as long as possible.

His view was impeded by Steve straddling his waist, grinding their cocks together with a slow roll of his hips. Phil chuckled and gripped onto his hips, thrusting up once with a snap of his hips that had Steve kicking his head back and moaning.

“Tell ‘em—ah fucking hell, Tony, you’re not supposed to be that fucking good at that—tell ‘em about that time Howie flew out and found us just as his heat hit.” Bucky sobbed, Phil’s head tilting around the Kyon to see the collie had flipped onto his hands and knees.

Phil could see his wicked little Gatto kneeling behind him, tongue deep in Bucky’s ass, raking the very tips of his claws over the soldier’s back. Clint was holding Bucky open for Tony, licking gently over the red marks that popped up from Tony’s nails. Steve grabbed his attention by catching his mouth in a desperate kiss, his hips making tiny aborted thrusts as he whined into Phil’s mouth. Phil grinned and fumbled to the side of the bed, grabbing the lube bottle he’d knocked off the bedside table earlier. He poured a generous amount over his fingers and hooked his hand around the curve of Steve’s hip, sinking a finger into tight heat with a sharp movement that had Steve crying out, shoving backwards onto it.

“Oh god, that time. That’s…Bucky that’s too much.” Steve panted, shaking his head and ignoring Bucky’s snarl from behind him.

He glanced to see that someone, probably Clint knowing his mischievous kitten, had snatched up the lube and now had two fingers buried inside the Kyon, Tony licking around them.

“Not too fucking much. Never too much. Fuck, Clint, Tony, somebody fuck me. Just lock in, don’t care.” Bucky whimpered, shoving back against the sensations as Phil slid another finger in and scissored them open.

“I’d like to hear it.” Phil murmured, brushing a kiss over Steve’s pounding pulse at the base of his throat.

“I’ve heard rabbits in heat are sights to be beheld. Begging, whining, ready for anything as long as they get tied.”

“Oh, God, yeah. Yes, he was at least. Howard was such a little slut for it.” Steve moaned out, grinding down on Phil with an intensity that prompted the Felis to stretch him on another finger.

“Just fucking tell us about it.” Clint finally snapped, barring his teeth in a hiss, tail lashing in annoyance.

Phil arched a brow as he slicked up his cock, letting Steve sink down on it with a whine, his tail brushing over Phil’s thighs with light touches. Clint was normally fairly well behaved, waiting patiently for an orgasm, but even his kitten had claws and the painful looking erection he was sporting let Phil know he almost done with playing around.

“Agreed. Tell us about it, you, Steve. Bucky, don’t let my kitten sit there in pain.” Phil prompted, a touch of bite in his voice that had Bucky grabbing for Clint’s hips, sucking him down and whining around his cock when Tony sank deep.

Phil growled as Steve set a punishing pace, rocking up and down on his cock with a quickness that had even Phil gripping at his hips. Oh yes, he could easily see how Steve had once been the Canem of the group. When it became apparent Steve was still hanging onto whatever hesitation he had about talking about it, Phil brought a hand down sharply on his ass, the crack kicking Tony and Clint’s head back on an instinctual level, both moaning at the memory of remembered punishment.

“Ah! Alright, yeah, okay. Okay, yeah. So Howard just shows up, we’re c-camping out in this shitty little R-Russ-Russian forest, getting ready to raid a HY-HYDRA camp.” Phil slowed Steve with a grip on his hips, slowing the pace so Steve wasn’t panting and whining every few words.

“We’re there and Howard shows up on this motorcycle. He was so wet he’d soaked the seat. Throws it down and jumps up on Buck, grinding and panting and whining for his cock. God, he was so desperate, such a little heat-whore.”

“Didja give it to him good, Cap?” Tony smirked, snapping his hips hard enough that Bucky growled around Clint’s cock, spit slicking down the length as he shoved back against the tiger.

“So good. Hauled him off first, locked inside our tent. The Commando’s were good but Howard was desperate. He’d have taken every single knot and barb in camp to get off. Let Bucky knot him first, fuck him open and loose for me.”

“Tell ‘em what you did when I—Jesus fuckin’ Christ, Tony. Pound me harder, make me scream around his cock—When I knotted with him.” Bucky gasped out, pumping Clint with one hand while he licked around the head.

Clint’s head tilted back and he moaned, writhing in a way that let Phil know he was very close to the edge. He reached out and grabbed ahold of the back of his neck, pricking his claws into the sides gently. Clint looked over his shoulder, eyes half desperate and wild.

Kittens **_always_** came first.

“Cum for me, Gatto.” He commanded and Clint arched, crying out and painting Bucky’s face with thick cream.

The Collie grinned and looked ready to lick it off when Phil stopped him with a sharp snap of his fingers, shoving and pushing at Steve until he turned around, sinking back down on Phil’s cock once he was facing the Kyon and Gatto. Clint nestled against his hip, pressing a gentle kiss that had Phil stroking a hand through his hair, comforting even as he shot Tony a meaningful look. The tiger grinned, baring his teeth as he shoved and pushed Bucky closer, scooting forward until he could pull the Kyon up by his hair. The moment Steve and Bucky figured out just how close they were to each other, Steve pulled Bucky into a filthy kiss, sharing Clint’s cum between them and cleaning it from his face with long, desperate strokes of his tongue.

“I licked you guys clean. Licked off the heat-slick and once your knot started to go down, I sucked your cum out of his needy little hole.”

“And then?” Bucky panted into his mouth, biting down on Steve’s lip.

“I…fuck, I slid in right next to you. He was so open and wet. Fucked him until you got hard again and started with me. Jesus, the way he screamed when you stiffened up inside him, stretching him out.” Steve moaned, and Tony shoved at Bucky’s arm until he wrapped a palm around Steve’s cock, the retriever returning the favor almost instantly.

“Did you guys actually double-knot him?” Clint asked in an amazed tone, Phil smiling down affectionately at the kitten’s wide eyes.

“Oh yeah. Took a hell of a time, fucked him double how many times, Steve? Until he was just this needy fucking mess of slick and moans. Finally did it, finally swelled up inside him. Oh god, Steve, I’m gonna cum just thinking about it.” Bucky whined out, writhing against Tony’s thrusts.

“Yeah, come on, Buckaboo, grip down on me. Gonna fill you up.” Tony panted out, and the words tossed Bucky over, Phil feeling a few drops of cum hit his thigh, staying there only momentarily before Clint licked them off.

Phil felt Steve lock down moments afterwards his cry echoing Tony’s by only seconds, and he himself slipped into the whirl of blackness and ecstasy when Clint clamored up, pressing desperate kisses to his mouth. Steve and Bucky both whimpered when the barbs caught inside them, sagging together and kissing gently in comparison to the desperation of the whole event. Phil caught Tony’s hand when the tiger flung it out, twisting their fingers together and granting his Gatto a soft smile. Tony pressed a kiss to Bucky’s shoulder blade, smiling.

“So, I guess I can check off ‘Orgasm to Memories of My Dad’ on my kink list.” He murmured, and Phil rolled his eyes.

Tony’s flippant nature meant he wasn’t as torn up by the experience as Phil had worried he might be. It made Phil wonder just how kinky his little Gatto could be, and made a point to figure that out one day. He nudged Clint towards the older Felidae, watching Tony pull the kitten into a needy kiss, Clint’s ears flickering as he chirruped happily into the older cats mouth.

“You call me Buckaboo again, that kink list is gonna turn into an unfinished bucket list.” Bucky murmured against Steve’s collarbone, drawing a laugh from everyone around him.

They stayed like that for a long while, even once Tony and Phil unlocked and withdrew. The Provectus lounged against the pillows as Tony and Clint cleaned up the two Canidae, bringing them to orgasm once more, Tony sharing Bucky’s pre-heat slick with Clint in a few kisses between sucks. Once all had settled, his Gatti took up their normal positions at his sides while the Kyons curled up between his legs, nuzzling against his hipbones, careful to not scent him too heavily lest they invoke the Felidae possessiveness.

“I think I’m gonna look over that Temporal Displacement reactor idea again.” Tony finally spoke up, bringing everyone’s heads around towards him.

“You’re sure?” Phil frowned, running a gentle hand through his hair, tweaking his ears playfully.

Even if Tony had done this, there was a big difference from talking about memories and seeing his father in the flesh. Interacting with him even, if the reactor worked like Tony had explained it. The tiger nodded, ears flicking against Phil’s fingers and tail dancing as Steve batted at it lazily, his gentle motions betraying the desperate hope in his eyes.

“Yeah. I mean, if I grab the Howard that my old man was when you guys knew him, he’d be nothing like the asshole that raised me. Hell, we could possibly even bond, maybe hug it out. Cry a few manly tears.”

Phil rolled his eyes and tapped Tony on the back of the head, the tiger’s ears drooping as he looked at Phil like he’d just kicked one of his robots. He smoothed away the frown with a kiss, Tony huffing into his mouth in satisfaction.

“I’d like that very much. Even if it doesn’t work—“

“Anything’s worth a try. Having Howie back…would be worth a try.”

The two Canidae nuzzled each other after they spoke the soft words, Phil pushing gently on Clint and Tony, not that they needed the prompting to slide down and wrap around the other Petros. He leaned back and settled, closing his eyes, letting the softness of the moment, so rare in a house of rowdy Petros and Thor, wash over him. Phil would talk to the other Provectus Friday at their weekly meeting, running the possibilities past Bruce as well as letting Natasha and Fury in on their plans. Maybe it was possible to drag Howard Stark into the modern era, God knows if anyone could it was Bruce and his brilliant Gatto.

The only concern he had with the plan was the one thing everyone seemed to be ignoring; how would Bruce and Thor re-act to their Kyons suddenly pulling away to be Canem’s?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Dictionary Entries!
> 
> Leporidae- Rabbits, but is also used as a derogatory term in some occasions. E.g. "Look at that Pup, writhing around like a Leporidae in heat."
> 
> Vulpae- Foxes, most of whom are red and black though a few black and silver do exist.
> 
> Coniglio- Term of affection for what equates to an Omega rabbit. There is a word for an Alpha rabbit but there are so few in the world that only a handful of people remember what that term is.
> 
> Petro- Term for any designation, one who is young. It may not refer to age specifically, a Petro can be any age. It's also used as an insult and reprimand, in the way one would inform a teenager throwing a fit that they were acting like a baby.
> 
> Provectus- Term for any designation, one who is older. Also does not refer to age, though Provectus are usually older than the one using the term. It is not used as an insult, but is used as a taunt by Petro's when one of them is being aggressive. E.g. "Look at you, trying to tell us where we can and can't sit! You're not a Provectus!"
> 
> Stirpe- Term for a large group of all designations with many Petros and Provectus'. The practice has fallen out of favor in the modern era, due to the amount of fights and discord that comes from that many designations trying to live together, though is actually quite common on other worlds. (According to Thor at least)


	4. The Best Of Us Can Find Happiness In Misery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phil discusses the Temporal Displacement plans, Bruce and Thor have an announcement, Jasper Sitwell is an adorable bunny rabbit with great news, and Phil's biggest fear gets shoved into the light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MASSIVE TRIGGER WARNINGS: Please, please heed this, the last thing I want to do is hurt anyone simply because they didn't read this. This contains mentions of: past miscarriage, past stillbirth, past death because of childbirth, suicide, blame in the suicide note. This chapter is not as fluffy as it appears at the start. But it ends fluffy once more. I can always fix things, and I can fix this too.
> 
> I'm not stupid enough to tell you to enjoy, but I hope you at least enjoy the first part of it.

“Fury’s on his way to the weekly meeting.”

Phil’s head came up at Sitwell’s tone, tugging off his reading glasses and laying the pen he’d been using to correct sitreps on top of the file. The Leporidae’s ears and nose twitched at his gaze, Jasper reaching up to self-consciously straighten his tie. There was something…different about his friend.

Phil stood from his desk and strode around, tucking the glasses into the breast pocket of his suit and stopping a few inches from the Coniglio who shifted uncomfortably and blinked up at him with wide eyes.

“Do I have something on my face?”

“Are you bonded?” Phil countered to his sass, brows arching at the quick flush that hit the café au lait skin of the man’s cheeks.

He fumbled for words for a moment before an insouciant tone sounded in the corridor, accompanying the stomp of booted footsteps.

“Stop teasing my Coniglio, Coulson. He’s shy.”

Phil stuck his head through the jambs, smiling softly at the look of pure joy that crossed Jasper’s face at the words, to see Clay Quartermain striding up the hall alongside Clint, his tail carefully kept from brushing the Felidae’s as they walked. Clint pounced on Jasper once they were within range, congratulations spilling from his mouth as they tussled back and forth playfully. Phil stepped fully into the hall, offering his hand to the Vulpae who took it with a vicious grin. Quartermain had come into SHIELD not too long after Phil himself had, and the fox was wicked smart, a master tactician with a specialty in hand-to-hand that had even Phil hitting the mat a few times during their sparring sessions.

To see him and Natasha go at it, all twisting Vulpae grace, was a thing of beauty.

“Congratulations. I assumed Jasper was going to be drifting for a while, he was so very good at blending into the background.” Phil said, shooting a look at the agent who was batting at his Gatto, chittering in annoyance, whole face a shade of red.

Clay offered up an easy smile, eyes softening as he looked at the two Petros, the sides of his mouth quirking as Jasper finally got fed up and whapped Clint over the head with the files he was holding.

“He might have. Almost missed him myself to be honest with you. Got lucky during the Loki attack, I guess. The grenade got launched into the main hull and I threw myself on top of this tiny little bunny who made the cutest sound when I brushed against his ears.”

Just as he finished speaking a tiny whimper sounded through the hall, Phil twisting to see that Clint had the tip of one of Jasper’s chocolate colored ears in his mouth and was tugging on it. Jasper was smacking at him with the file, cursing amidst the tiny sounds falling from his mouth. He rolled his eyes and gestured to the two with a jerk of his thumb.

“His suppression injection’s wearing off?”

“Oh yeah,” Clay’s grin was darkly sinful, out of place with his All-American good looks. “About a week out, if I’m right. Can’t wait.”

Phil laughed with a nod, snapping his fingers at Clint to get the kitten to release Jasper. He did with a disappointed meow, Jasper getting in one last good whack with the stack of files, straightening his glasses afterwards. SHEILD did not discriminate based on designation, if anything Fury prided himself in having the largest spread of them in any government agency, covert or no, but mandatory heat leave was part of the package for all agents as were neural suppressant injections every 3 months for Leporidae that cut down on the sensitivity of their ears. They wore off quicker closer to a heat, disappearing completely once a Coniglio entered estrus. Without those, Clint gnawing on Jasper’s ears would have had the older agent making quite the scene.

And sending Phil and Clay into Provectus overdrive.

Petros were allowed to toy around with one another, it wasn’t anything surprising to see Tony pounce on Bucky while the soldier lay on the couch, nipping at him playfully and tussling around until they hit the floor. But once a Petro had been claimed, triggering an orgasm, intentionally or not, was cause for punishment from that Petros bonded. Phil never worried though, not even with how much Clint played around with the other kittens and puppies of SHIELD. His lynx had a fantastic nose, and eyes sharper than anyone he’d ever met, and would stop the moment the play shifted from innocent to not.

“Are you heading to the Provectus meeting?” He asked, Clint crossing to drop a kiss on his cheek before murmuring something about finding Steve for lunch and bounding off, crashing playfully into other Petros as he went.

Clay nodded, pulling Jasper in by his tie for a dirty kiss that flashed teeth and tongue and left Phil moving to grab the folder that slipped from the Coniglio’s fingers as he huffed into it. Jasper moaned softly when Clay captured one ear between his thumb and index finger, stroking them down the length gently before releasing him. Phil handed the file over to the blushing Petro with an indulgent smile before watching him scurry off.

“Mmmm, now I get why you’re so protective of your Gatti.” Quartermain hummed, stretching and tracking the Leporidae’s fluffy tail until Jasper disappeared around a corner.

 

“I knew you’d get it eventually.” Phil replied, pulling his office door closed and starting down the hall the opposite way that the Petros had gone.

Clay fell into step behind him, moving in stride through the numerous halls and stairways until they came to a door with a retinal scan and thumbprint reader. Phil let it scan in his biometrics, the lock unclicking quickly and allowing him entrance, Clay following him into the room. Fury looked up from where he was seated at the head of a round table, and in all reality that shouldn’t have been possible but this was Nick Fury and screw physics.

“About damn time. I’ve been waiting.” He huffed, setting down the tablet he was holding and gesturing impatiently to the seats around him.

“Sorry, I was congratulating Clay on his bonding.” Phil remarked, shooting the fox a grin at his low grumble as they settled on either side of Nick.

“You got bonded?” Maria asked, brown ears flicking as she looked to Clay, setting a cup of coffee at Fury’s elbow and brushing a hand over his bicep to caution him of its presence.

Clay nodded but before he could answer Natasha dropped into the seat next to Phil, baring her teeth at her fellow Vulpae, inhaling sharply before speaking.

“A Coniglio? Did you have to force bond him?”

Clay’s face twisted into a grimace as he glared at her, popping a fist down on the table.

“No, Natasha. I didn’t. You didn’t have to force bond yours!”

“I’m bonded with a Canidae.” She answered coolly, leaning back in her chair. Phil slipped his arm around behind her, his presence relaxing the harsh set of her shoulders.

He knew bonding was a sensitive topic for Natasha, having been almost force bonded herself at a very young age. She knew just how vulnerable rabbits could be, she’d once mentioned a Leporidae that had been kept with her and torn apart by the vicious Canidae that ran the Red Room. Quartermain seemed ready to snap at her once more before Fury pounded a fist down on the table, bringing eyes to him.

“Enough! Motherfucking Vulpae and their pissing contests. You guys are worse than Canem’s.”

The two foxes huffed at the insult but Phil couldn’t help but smile. Nick had a point, even if it had been delivered roughly. Much like Leporidae lacking dominants, the Vulpae designation, over years of being hunted and cruelly used for their beauty and skills, had bred out of having submissives. There were very few left and the ones that were still kicking around, that SHIELD knew of, were all bonded to Canidae or Felidae.

Maria brushed a kiss over Fury’s cheek, the wolf growling in pleasure and pulling her into his lap to capture her mouth, ears flattened to his head. Phil respectfully shifted his gaze away, tapping on the table and bringing up the security feed to the cafeteria, zooming until he could clearly see Clint with one cheek full, gesturing wildly with a half-eaten apple as Steve leaned back with an indulgent smile. He could hear Maria grumbling at Fury from one ear, the Ocelot wasn’t ever fully submissive to Nick and Phil had often wondered how in the hell the wolf had gotten her to agree to bond with him in the first place.

The moment was finally interrupted by Bruce and Thor stepping into the room, the air changing with the presence of the Hundr. Phil saw Maria clamor from Nick’s arms as the two crossed the room, Bruce settling next to Clay with a nod, Maria taking his other side, and Thor clapping a hand on Phil’s shoulder as he plopped down between him and Fury.

“I do hope that our Kyon’s weren’t too much trouble in our absence, Son of Coul.” He boomed and Phil shook his head, rolling his shoulder to shake out the sting.

“Not at all. They were perfectly well behaved and it was nice to have another pair of Petros running around to amuse mine. I got more work done than I have since I’ve bonded those two.”

“I can only imagine how hard it is to get _anything_ done with Tony, let alone trying to wrangle Clint as well.” Bruce commented and Phil sent him a small smile, shrugging his shoulders.

“Speaking of Tony, I’ve got something I want to bring up.”

“Good.” Fury snapped, moving around thing on his tablet. “Because I haven’t got shit to talk about this time around. For once, everything isn’t coming down around my shoulders.”

“Don’t be so sure.” All eyes turned to Bruce and when Phil met them, he realized he wasn’t the only one who had wanted to discuss this topic.

“The Temporal Displacement reactor?” He guessed and Bruce nodded, a look of surprise passing his face.

“Yes, that’s right. Steve told you about it?”

“In a sense, yes.”

“Well can someone tell the rest of the class?” Maria snapped, tail flickering behind her.

Natasha nodded to the side, leaning forward and folding her arms. For a moment Phil was surprised Tony hadn’t told Pepper who in turn would of course tell Natasha, but then again, Tony hadn’t even told him until he’d almost smacked into it wandering through the lab once. Phil gestured to Bruce to go ahead and speak, the scientist pulling up a blank hologram in front of them and beginning to sketch on the table in front of him, the drawings hovering in the air as he formed them. To Phil, he could understand a bit of it, math equations for force, mass, acceleration, physics doodle of friction burn and atmospheric pressure, but otherwise he was stumped. A quick look around the table said everyone else was in his position, except for Thor who was looking at the whole thing with an eerie understanding.

Once Bruce finished out the sketch, numbers and words and a sketch of something that looked incredibly like an arc reactor smack in the middle of the page, Bruce pointed to it with the end of his stylus.

“This is basically the Temporal Displacement reactor.”

“Looks like a big ass arc reactor.” Clay commented, shifting the screen towards him for a moment before spinning it back.

“Some of the basic components are the same, yes, and ultimately it _is_ a power source. But that’s not its basic reason for being.”

“Temporal displacement, isn’t that an extremely fancy way of saying time travel?” Natasha asked, kicking back in her seat with a curious look in Bruce’s direction.

“Not exactly, though the idea is pretty similar. Temporal displacement is more the act of pulling something, or someone, into the current era from another time period.” Bruce answered, jumping when Fury cursed suddenly, baring his teeth in a snarl, showing that while the science was tripping him up, it’s reason for being was crystal clear.

“They wanna bring Stark to the future?! I’ve got enough trouble dealing with his kid! Already had to give up my best agent to wrangle his ass and now you’re telling me I’m going to have to give up my two best soldiers?” He snarled and Thor growled at his tone, pulling Fury’s gaze from Bruce at the low rumble that shook Phil’s chest.

“I would advise you not speak in such a tone to my Kompis.” He snarled, and Fury’s ears flattened to his skull in deference.

The title made Phil blink between the god who was still staring down the Director and Bruce, who was blushing, his eyes locked on the table in front of him. Ah, so that was why Bruce had come back limping from Asgard with a smile on his face.

That certainly answered the question of whether or not Bruce and Thor would be heartbroken about losing their Kyons.

“Alright, alright. Jesus, fine. So you think this thing will actually work?” Fury asked Bruce, his tone noticeably lighter.

Nick Fury may be a tough bastard, but he didn’t get as far as he had without being smart as a whip too.

“It could. We asked about it in Asgard and Odin said that time travel wasn’t merely a possibility there, but a reality. He gave Thor a stone that he said could power it. By our calculations, if Steve and Bucky stand in the reactor and think of the Howard they remembered, it should be enough to yank him into our time.” The pit replied, his ears standing straight up while his body vibrated in excitement.

The motion wasn’t unfamiliar to Phil, who had seen Tony move with the same purpose when he thought of something new or had a breakthrough on a problem he’d been chewing on for a while.

“Won’t that disrupt the time-space continuum, or whatever they worry about in all the sci-fi films?” Maria asked, resting a hand on Fury’s forearm and blinking at Thor demurely, cutting off his growl.

Thor shook his head, smiling gently at the Felidae with the look of a Canem who knew he was being pandered to but chose to ignore it.

“Nay, on Asgard we have a saying for these situations. Hva er å være, er å være.”

“Qué será, será.” Natasha muttered from beside him, Thor nodding in her direction.

“Aye, Vulpae. If this is to happen, it shall be permitted to happen. If not, something shall stop the course of action. We will not know until we have tried.”

Fury sighed and tilted his head back, groaning with the exasperation of a dog who’d had its pups climbing over it all day. Maria rubbed his arm gently and he captured her hand, twining their fingers as he glanced at the rest of them.

“Any objections to letting them try this?”

Clay shook his head, Phil matching the action. All eyes turned to Natasha who shifted and shot Thor and Bruce a look.

“I can’t believe I’m the one bringing this up, but what about the emotional toll? You’re bringing your Kyon’s lover to this century. That means you’ll lose them to him. And Phil, this is the same man who made Tony into the person he was before you bonded. You’re not concerned about the trauma of coming face to face with him?” She asked, and Phil glanced at Bruce and Thor, who both nodded at him to answer his part first.

He turned to Natasha and shrugged his shoulders easily, shifting them under the suit jacket.

“I spoke with Tony about it. He says he can’t logically hate the man his father was before he became who Tony grew up with. It might be hard, but he seems a bit…excited about the prospect to be honest. Any awkwardness can be solved quickly and even if Howard Stark was an asshole as a parent when no one could stop him, do you honestly think I’ll allow a Leporidae to threaten my Gatto?” Phil let a dangerous smile slide across his face and Natasha chuckled, leaning forward to bump their heads together before nodding, looking between the two Canidae.

“What about you two?”

Thor grinned and shot Bruce a wink that had the pit making a low sound in his throat, Clay shooting him an odd look out of the corner of his eye.

“On Asgard, during a feast for my visit, our small healer imbibed too much mead. When we returned to my chambers he was far more amorous than normal. We mated and bonded that night, bathed in the full Asgardian moon. We have discussed it and decided that we would rather see our Kyon happy than be so arrogant to bind them to us when we would all find better happiness elsewhere.”

Bruce nodded along with his words, flushing deeper when Clay reached over to hook a finger in the collar of his shirt, pulling it aside to reveal a huge bonding bite that was just starting to scar. Phil wondered idly if the Hulk would bear the mark as well before Fury’s voice, tinged with exasperation, cut through the room.

“Alright, fine. Run the damn thing, tell me what happens Coulson. If it works, we’ll have to debrief him like we did Rogers, if not someone put the pups on suicide watch for protection.”

Phil opened his mouth to protest the harsh words before snapping them shut, realizing Fury wasn’t being flippant. If the hope he’d seen in Steve and Bucky’s eyes during their session together came crashing down around them, Phil wasn’t sure just how violent their reactions would be. He could only assume they could keep each other stable enough to prevent the tragedy.

Fury stood from the table, ending the meeting with the action and swept Maria from the room, nuzzling into her neck and firmly ignoring her protests that they had things to do and that she wasn’t his little Felidae call girl. Phil smiled at the actions before standing, shaking hands with Thor and Bruce, as well as confirming his dinner plans with Natasha for the following evening before watching them stride from the room together, making plans for lunch tomorrow. Clay’s yawn caught his attention and he turned his head, smirking at the way the fox’s white ears shivered with the Vulpae’s stretch.

“Tired, Petro?” He teased, chuckling at the finger Clay shot him in response as he climbed up from his chair, crossing to toss an arm around Phil’s shoulders.

“More like learning to run half ragged for the day I come back after Jasper’s heat leave.” He murmured, and Phil shook his head.

The idea wasn’t actually all that bad of one. The last time Tony had gone into heat it’d been so strong it had knocked Clint into his own and after satisfying both his Gatti, Phil had spent half of the next day in his office slumped over files he was supposed to be correcting and drinking coffee like it was water. Remembering that day had Phil knocking his shoulder into Clay’s as they strode from the room, heading back towards Phil’s office.

“You made sure you’re both on birth control, right?”

Quartermain suddenly looked uncomfortable and Phil stopped in the middle of the hallway, grasping his bicep and letting his claws dig in just enough so that the tips would hit skin through the material of his field suit. Clay winced and shook his arm in an attempt to remove Phil’s hand, stopping at his low hiss and the angry flicking of his tail.

“I…uh…fuck, Phil, can we do this in your office?” He demanded, finally jerking free of Phil’s hold.

Phil regarded him for a long moment before nodding sharply, stomping down the hall at a quick pace, practically running up stairs until they were in front of his door. He’d had to hiss at a few Petros on the way there and made a mental note to apologize for it later. Throwing the door open, he motioned Clay inside with a flick of his wrist, stepping in afterwards and snapping it shut behind them.

The Vulpae paced the length of the room, rubbing his hands through his hair, tail tucked low in agitation before he stopped and met Phil’s eyes evenly.

“He wants me to breed him.”

“Are you nuts?!” Phil snapped, crossing his arms over his chest and swallowing against the ice ball that lodged itself in his throat.

Clay shook his head and planted his hands on his hips.

“No. Look, he brought it up and I agreed. He’s gone too long without a bonded Phil, he doesn’t want to wait like all other couples do.”

“Did he bring it up in bed?” Phil asked in a vicious tone, consciously popping his ears back up from where they were pressed against his skull.

“Because Tony and Clint have spent entire sessions begging me to breed them and it’s always been something in the heat of the moment.”

“No! Alright, yes, he brought it up in bed. But I asked him after we fucked and he said he was serious, that he truly did want it. How do you know Clint and Tony weren’t being serious and they just brush it off because you do?! What the hell is your issue with pregnancy anyways, Coulson? I’ve seen you around the pregnant agents here, you scurry away as quick as you can, even from the Felidae that you normally let easily brush against you.”

Phil could feel his temper showing in his cheeks, flushing his face as he gripped onto his biceps, breathing slow to keep from baring his teeth and swiping at the Vulpae. He had almost had control of it when Clay spoke again.

“What, do you not like pregnant people? Do they repulse you? Don’t worry, I’ll happily tell Jasper to stay the fuck away from you when he’s—“

“It’s a fucking death sentence!” He snarled, uncrossing his arms and clenching his fists.

Clay stopped dead, the anger on his face dying away quickly at the words. He raised his hands and took a cautious step towards Phil, his body radiating calm and control.

“Phil, what do you mean by that? Talk to me, Provectus, I don’t understand.”

Phil breathed in and out through his nose, trying to get a hold on his raging heartbeat. If he was Bruce, he’d have Hulked out long ago. Phil swung past Clay, sitting down hard on his couch and letting his head fall into his hands, closing his eyes and instantly regretting it as images danced on his closed lids.

Opening the door to his mother’s bedroom, seeing her curled on her side, blood pooled between her thighs and eyes dead. She’d miscarried what would have been Phil’s little brother and the trauma had killed her. His older sister, holding Phil’s hand and begging him to take care of his newborn niece as doctors tried futilely to stop her body’s massive postpartum hemorrhaging. His college lover, pressing kisses to Phil’s hands and crying as he apologized, trying to tear Phil’s eyes away from the stillborn body of their daughter. He’d made it out of the hospital and Phil had kept him alive for a week before coming back from a grocery run to find him hanging from their bedroom ceiling.

Phil opened his eyes on a gasp as hard hands locked around his forearms, looking up to meet Clint’s wild gaze. Voices pierced the roar of blood in his ears and he heard Clay speaking to someone, though he couldn’t say who, unable to look away from Clint’s shattered gaze.

“We were talking about pregnancy and he snapped and said it’s a death sentence. When I asked him what he meant he just sort of collapsed, like a puppet whose strings got cut. Threw himself down on the couch and started hyperventilating, hissing and snarling like I’ve never heard before.”

“Got it. Thanks for calling us Quartermaster, we’ll take it from here.”

Phil winced at the sound of Tony’s voice sounding before the door shut, leaving behind the scent of concern and fear. God, this was just about the last thing he wanted. The last time he’d freaked out about a pregnancy he’d been on a mission, thankfully alone, finding the body of their target’s pregnant mate who the Canidae’s enemies had gotten to before he’d been able to. To him, pregnancy only ended in death and despair. His niece was the most beautiful thing on the planet, and he wasn’t able to talk to her but on the phone, her black curls and blue eyes reminding him too much of the sister he’d held as she passed.

To have this hateful secret spilled out in front of his beloved Gatti was something out of his worst nightmares, the ones that made him jerk up from the bed with a scream in his throat.

“Felis? Felis, we’re here. If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to. But…let us hold you?” Clint’s unsure voice made Phil realized he had his teeth bared and claws out, his whole posture radiating ‘do NOT approach’. He dropped his hands and closed his mouth with force, opening his arms for his Gatti who snuggled into them instantly. Phil held them close to him, maybe too close going by Tony’s soft grunt, but he couldn’t find it in him to relax his muscles.

The idea of his mates round and fat with his young was an addictive idea, one that he had fantasized about more than once. But the reality of the dream usually came crashing down around him and ruined any happy thoughts he might have had.

Clint brushing a soft kiss over the base of his throat tore him from his thoughts and he huffed, pulling them from the floor onto the couch on either side of him, letting them lay their heads on his thighs and running gentle hands through their hair. They stayed like that for a long time, Phil letting the steady hum of the arc reactor and the subconscious flex of Clint’s fingers against his leg sooth him back down into a normal headspace. He drew a deep breath, aware that even if they said he didn’t have to talk about it, the not-knowing would drive both his curious Petros up the walls until the figured it out.

“When I was ten years old, I went to check on my mother after school. She had been five months pregnant with my younger brother and I knew she liked to take naps in the afternoon. When I walked in, I found her dead, bled out from a miscarriage.”

Clint and Tony’s soft whines almost made him stop but he pushed on, knowing he had one shot to get all this out.

“At seventeen I held my sister while she begged and pleaded with me to watch after my niece Angela, heard her cry out to God to let her spend just one day getting to know her daughter. She hemorrhaged to death twelve minutes after Angela was born. She didn’t even get to hold her before she died, she barely got to hear her cry. At twenty-two—“ Here Phil had to stop for a moment and swallow hard, blinking back the sheen of tears that filled his vision.

“At twenty-two, I had to hear my daughter’s heartbeat suddenly stop on the monitor and watch the doctor’s deliver her stillborn body. She was gorgeous, perfect, and never got to take her first breath. I tried to be strong for my Gatto, tried to keep him from sinking into despair. I thought I was doing well, until I came home a week after her birth to find him hanging from the ceiling above our bed. His note told me it was my family. That she would have lived if she hadn’t had my genes. That I was the reason our daughter—“ Phil broke off with a sob, tears spilling from his cheeks as a searing pain shot through his chest, almost as sharp as the one that he’d felt when he’d read those hateful words.

Clint and Tony immediately sprang up, nuzzling into his throat and whispering fierce words of condemnation for his past lover. He lost himself in ‘it’s NOT your fault’ and ‘some things can’t be helped’ and ‘please, Felis, please don’t, can’t stand to see you like this’ until his sobs calmed, chest and temples aching in a pulsing pattern. Tony was stroking a soft hand through his hair, Clint pressing gentle kisses into his throat by the time his breathing returned to normal. He let his head fall back, letting them both rub into him, grasping onto his shirt as tightly as he was holding theirs.

“You can ask. I’m sorry I kept it from you this long. You have a right to know anything you want.” Phil said to the ceiling, wincing at how dead his voice sounded under the hoarse tone.

They both kept quiet for a moment before Clint spoke up, and Phil almost sobbed with desperate and inappropriate amusement that his fantastic little kitten would be the one to break the silence.

“Is that why you are so adamant about our birth control?”

“Yes. I don’t want to lose you two. It took me too long to open myself up again. Without you two in my life, I’d simply waste away.”

“But what if it didn’t hurt us?” Tony asked suddenly and Phil yanked his head up, gripping onto the tiger’s chin, tilting his head so their eyes met.

Or would have if Tony hadn’t quickly looked away.

“Tony. No. I’m not risking it, I’m not risking losing either of you.”

“But today’s medical equipment is so much more advanced! And Clint and I have perfect genetic profiles, no diseases, no defects, nothing!”

Phil grew cold as he realized the fire in Tony’s eyes meant the Petro had researched this. He’d been thinking about actually having children.

With Phil.

No. No, no, no, no. **NO.**

“Petro, no. I can’t do it, _we_ can’t do it.”

“So you’d deprive us of something we want because you’re scared?” Tony hissed, and his use of ‘we’ made Phil look to Clint, whose eyes were shadowed and darting from his.

His breath caught in his chest at the realization that he’d been so blind. Clay had been right. Those begging moans and whines while they fucked, Tony running gentle hands over Clint’s stomach during movie nights, Clint tugging Phil’s hand to rest low on his abs when they slept. They both wanted young, and not just any young, but _his_ young. Bile rose with a sharp twist of his stomach and he barely made it to the small attached bathroom in time before the remains of his meager lunch came back up, burning his throat. Once the gagging and heaving had stopped, Phil let himself fall back against the wall after hitting the handle, cradling his head in his hands.

A gentle touch to his arm had him looking over to see Tony kneeling next to him, ears flattened and tail tucked low between his legs as he held out a cup of water. Phil took it and rinsed out his mouth a few times, spitting into the toilet before standing and flushing once more, swallowing the rest of the cool liquid to sooth his raw throat. Tony had stood as well and was shifting awkwardly, his tail drooping and ears flickering nervously.

“Come here.” Phil said roughly, setting the glass down on the edge of the sink and pulling Tony into his arms, sighing at the rough brush of his goatee against his throat as the tiger gently sucked a small mark into the underside of his jaw. Clint hovered at the edge of the doorway and Phil realized he wasn’t doing it because he felt unwelcome but rather because he knew he couldn’t fit into the tiny room. At that moment, exhaustion hit him hard, as well as the desperate need to be close to his Gatti.

“Clint, pull out the bed will you? I need some rest.” Phil murmured and Clint nodded before taking off out of sight.

Phil guided Tony backwards, blinking at the fact that Clint had somehow in the span of moments flipped out the bed and spread the blanket down and was currently perched on the end, toeing off his shoes. Tony pulled away when they were close to slip out of his own shoes, crawling up the bed next to Clint who nuzzled his nose, exchanging soft kisses as Phil stripped out of his shoes, suit jacket, tie and belt. He shut the main lights off, locking the door and leaving the room bathed in the soft glow from the bathroom light. Phil slid in on Clint’s free side, heaving a sigh of relief at the way the kitten turned to kiss him as well and how Tony grasped his hand, twining their fingers and pressing a light kiss to his palm.

“I’m sorry.” He murmured against Clint’s mouth, pulling away to repeat the phrase to Tony.

The tiger nodded, brushing another soft kiss on his palm before lowering their joined hands to Clint’s stomach. Everything was quiet for a moment before Clint broke it, surprising Phil who thought it would be Tony who spoke first.

“Will you try to accept the idea?”

Phil swallowed hard, weighing his options. At this point, if he said no he might lose them faster than pregnancy would rip them from his arms. He didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. Besides, maybe Tony was right. Medicine had come so very far, his fear seemed practically barbaric.

 _Not as barbaric as being covered in your sister’s blood while she sobs_ , a venomous tone whispered in the back of his mind and he shook it away with a shudder.

“I’ll…try. I can’t promise anything. But I can talk to a therapist, maybe talk to some of the agents who’ve had children. I won’t be ready the next cycle of your heats…but maybe someday.”

“Someday’s all we’re asking for.” Tony whispered and Phil nodded, blinking back sudden tears that stung his eyes.

God, he loved these two. Loved them with every part of his heart and soul and knew, deep down inside, for them he would do anything. Even face his darkest fear brought to light and stand tall.

“I love you both, so, so much. My beautiful, strong, stubborn Gatti. I can’t think of a happier day in my life than when we became us.” He said, before grunting when he was suddenly pinned down by two sniffling Felidae.

Phil smiled as they both replied in kind, kissing their heads and pulling them in close. He let himself drift in the soft silence that followed, content that Clint’s perfect inner clock would wake them up in exactly an hour. Maybe it was the worst idea they had ever had, and maybe it would break him. But it could also be the best thing that ever happened to him, and Phil Coulson would have to be an idiot to pass the chance at greatest up because of the threat of failure.

And even if his mother hadn’t been around very long, she certainly hadn’t raised an idiot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See? I can fix it and I'm starting. This universe was supposed to be fluffy and now subplots are sneaking in that are not but it's going to be amazing, I promise you all.


	5. Discussions of Heat and Bonding Bites

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce and Thor discuss Bucky's heat, and the biggest roadblock to cementing their relationship is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I know now (thanks to websurffer!) that pit bulls don't actually have locking jaws. I bought into the myth and I am sorry *hangs head* But! In this 'verse it's a reality that complicates things because, come on, nothing can be easy!  
> I hope you guys enjoy!

“You are tense, Kompis.”

The low rumble from above him almost had Bruce flipping over onto his back before a pair of gentle hands landed on his shoulders and dug into the muscles there, making him flop back onto the bed and moan. He struggled to find words for a moment, the drugging sensation of Thor’s careful and capable hands lulling him into a relaxed state that had even the Other Guy growling quietly in pleasure.

“I—Thor, if you want me to talk you’re going to have to stop touching me.” Bruce stammered, huffing in disappointment when Thor’s hands actually lifted from his shoulders.

The Hundr wasn’t quite through, however, and merely shifted his hands to Bruce’s lower back, digging into the muscles there instead. He was careful around the base of Bruce’s tail, sensitive after their lazy love-making sensation merely an hour ago. The hands there were a bit easier to think through and Bruce chuffed happily before snuggling his head deeper into his folded arms, content to relax for once in the knowledge that the Other Guy posed no threat to Thor, having accepted him not only as a Canem but as a mate.

“I’m worried. We’re testing the Temporal Displacement reactor tomorrow and there are a couple of things I’m still worried about.”

“What things?”

“Well, for one, I know Odin assured us that it wouldn’t screw with the timeline. But the scientist in me still worries.”

Thor’s low chuckle rumbled through him as the Hundr leant down over him to nuzzle at his throat, hands coming up on either side of Bruce’s shoulders to support his weight as he licked and bit gently at the bite wound he’d re-opened during his orgasm. Bruce rolled his head to the side to allow him easier access, grinning into the cover of his arms when the Other Guy growled and stretched inside him. He wasn’t trying to come out, wasn’t trying to take over, but rather merely relaxing himself within Bruce, content with the presence of his mate.

In Asgard, when Bruce had foolishly assumed the Other Guy’s metabolism would keep him from getting smashed and wound up tumbling into bed with Thor, he hadn’t assumed the Other Guy would show up the next morning. No doubt in response to Bruce’s pounding heart rate at finding the Hundr sprawled naked next to him, a slight grin on his slumbering face and his arm thrown across Bruce’s waist. Instead of cringing in fear like any normal designation would have done at being woken up by a—what did Clint call him—Jolly Green Giant with PMS, Thor had jumped up and laughed, amazingly even daring to catch the Guy’s mouth in a kiss.

Bruce is almost 99% sure that the Other Guy had transformed back out of surprise…and maybe a little bit of fear.

“You worry too much, Kompis. Your films have made you afraid of the distortion of time, and yet there is no need to be so. The Tid Stone Odin has gifted the two Kyon with will not cause any harm, nor shall it change the here and now.”

“I don’t understand—“ His words were cut off by Thor easily flipping him onto his back and catching his mouth in a rough kiss, spearing his fingers through Bruce’s curls to hold his head in two huge hands.

Bruce let himself be drawn deeper and deeper into the kiss, even letting Thor manhandle him until the Hundr was lying beneath him, Bruce sprawled over his lap like some hedonistic pleasure slave. The idea made him shiver and his cock gave an interested twitch, Thor chuckling and wrapping one big hand around him in response. He moaned at the firm pressure, pushing impatiently at Thor until the alien Canidae removed his hand and sat up, leaning against the headboard. The new position allowed Bruce to bury his head in his throat and bare his mark with a low whine, Thor grumbling in satisfaction as he licked and nipped at it.

It was….odd, to say the least, being in a position of submission. He’d gotten so used to everyone flinching away from the odd smell the Other Guy gave him, and assuming the odd spice meant he was a dominant, to think he would ever find someone he could submit to. Not that Bruce would have been unhappy being the dominant partner in a relationship, not at all actually, but it was also nice for the pit who worried constantly to have time where he worried about nothing.

Of course, he hadn’t _really_ worried much since the Avengers had settled together anyways. The group seemed to have no qualms about tussling with him just as much as they did each other, especially Tony and Clint who seemed to take a certain amount of pleasure in jumping over the back of the couch when he least expected it and gnawing on his ears. He’d swatted at them a couple of times in the beginning, until he’d realized it was all in good fun and something they did to everyone, save Natasha of course, as the one time Bruce had seen Tony edge towards her with a mischievous grin on his face she’d pinged bits of the apple she’d been eating off his forehead until he huffed and walked away to complain to Phil.

It had taken Bruce some time to be comfortable with the Vulpae, especially given the charged nature of their first meeting, but he had quickly learned that save for Pepper and Phil, her bondmate and Socium respectively, Natasha was uneasy around everyone and once he’d understood that, he’d simply made it a point to go out of his way to speak to her or ask her to do something with him, even if it was as small as cook breakfast.

Their relationship had grown quickly once they realized the other wasn’t going to snap and hurt them, and now their thrice weekly meditation and yoga sessions were often what kept Bruce from losing his temper so fast.

“You are thinking so loudly I think mayhaps if I strained I could hear it.” Thor commented in that off-hand way of his, a flush staining Bruce’s cheeks as he looked up guiltily at his Canem.

The blonde shook his head with a smile, flicking his ears in a motion that told Bruce he was amused, not aggravated. Bruce slid his hands around Thor’s neck for purchase before rolling his hips slowly, thankful he’d given in to those young Felidae in Turkey who were determined to get the quiet doctor Canidae to belly-dance with them. It turned out losing himself in the rhythm and the sway worked just as well as meditation and was much easier to do if he couldn’t settle his thoughts.

Thor groaned, gripping onto his hips and jerking him forward, the rub of his thick cock under Bruce sending a shiver up his spine. It shouldn’t be possible, not at Bruce’s age, to want again so soon, but the bond was fresh and new and hell, look at Phil. He was only a year behind Bruce and he managed to keep two bouncy and high-energy Petros completely satisfied.

“Are you trying to distract me?” Bruce asked suddenly, pulling his head back from Thor’s neck as his mind linked up the Hundr’s actions.

Thor grinned easily and shrugged his big shoulders, rubbing small circles on Bruce’s hips with his thumbs. The erect twitching of his ears belied his casual nature, however, and Bruce planted his hands on his hips, glaring down at the Canem in mock disappointment.

“Thor…” He trailed off when the god frowned at him, sighing as the Hundr’s big ears drooped and leaning in to lay a gentle kiss on his lips.

Thor broke from the kiss with a low rumble, nuzzling into Bruce’s throat once more and very gently testing his teeth against the skin.

“I am merely trying to make my Kompis happy.”

“Make me happy by telling me how the Tid Stone is going to make sure Tony isn’t wiped from existence.” Bruce replied and Thor huffed out a small laugh, shaking his head.

“So determined. In Asgard, we would tell tales of your tenacity to children in hopes they would develop the same traits. Very well, Kompis. The Tid Stone will create another life for the elder Stark, separate and yet combined with the one he led in this world.”

Bruce blinked slowly, translating the ancient words into modern phrases before his eyes widened.

“An alternate timeline? It will create an alternate timeline for Howard Stark?”

“Aye. In one life he shall do as he has done, and yet in the new one you shall gift him with using the Tid Stone and your reactor, he shall be reunited with his loves. Ne’er shall the twain meet.”

Bruce grinned at the possibilities, at how amazing it was going to be that nothing would change save for the sudden presence of the Leporidae in their home. He grinned because Steve and Bucky would finally be able to fill the space they still left in between them. Bruce grinned because he was going to accomplish what every Canem wanted to do; fulfill his Kyon’s greatest wish.

He laughed suddenly, the glee of the moment more than anything he’d ever felt, more so even than when he thought he was so close to creating the super-soldier serum. Bruce caught Thor’s mouth in a kiss, opening his mouth for the Hundr’s tongue and whining into it, rolling his hips once more. God, he wanted to get filled.

“I want you to fuck me.” He groaned when they pulled back for air, watching Thor’s eyes dilate at the words.

The god shifted, catching his hips once more and lifting him to his knees. Bruce caught onto his line of thinking immediately, bracing his weight and reaching behind him to guide Thor’s heavy erection into him. They both moaned when Bruce slid down in one long, easy slide until he was sitting flush with Thor’s thighs, shivering at the feeling of Thor stretching him wide. Thor shook his head to throw his hair away from his face, gripping onto Bruce’s hips so hard it almost hurt.

“You are still tight, Kompis. As if I hadn’t made love to you only a small while ago.”

Bruce smirked and set his knees a bit further apart before raising up, dropping back down with a grin at the slick slide and Thor’s resulting groan.

“You know you did though. I’m still wet with your cum.” He remarked, and Thor snarled at the words, thrusting up in a move that hit Bruce’s prostate and had him clawing at Thor’s shoulders.

They made love furiously, as opposed to their earlier session, the Other Guy right below the surface snarling along with Bruce at every rough thrust. When Bruce tipped over the edge he screamed into Thor’s throat, fingers biting so deeply into the Hundr’s shoulders his nails came back dripping blood. For all his ferocity during the act, Thor was incredibly gentle as he unhooked his teeth from Bruce’s throat, licking at the wounds that had re-opened and nuzzling them softly.

“Thor?” Bruce whispered softly, drawing the god’s head up from his throat.

“Aye?”

“Have you….we need to talk about Bucky’s heat.” He said with some trepidation.

They’d been tip-toeing around the topic recently, but with tomorrow being such a big day and Bucky due to hit his heat any moment now, it wasn’t something they could put off any longer. Thor sighed and settled back, Bruce shifting around until he was sprawled between his lover’s legs, playing with the tip of a bushy tail and biting his lip at the feeling of Thor’s cum shifting inside him at his movements.

“Aye, verily we do. I do not wish to leave him be, if it holds true that Steven cannot knot as we suspect may be an issue. At the same time, if he enters heat after the elder Stark has arrived in this time, we know not whether he would want us near his lover.”

Bruce nodded along, thinking over Thor’s words. The god had a point, Canidae were possessive already, add a Leporidae bond to them and they could become downright feral in protection. If Steve couldn’t knot, they would have a fight on their hands getting close enough to Bucky but not _too close_ to Howard to help him through his heat. Hopefully, Steve would be able to, but they hadn’t had time to test the theory yet. As a child, before the serum, Steve’s body had been too weak to knot, even if he’d ever been given the chance to be the dominant partner. Steve didn’t talk much about his time in the war post-serum, Bruce and Thor not asking for fear of bringing up bad memories, and once he’d awakened Bruce had taken him on as a Kyon. They didn’t know for sure what his situation was with knotting, and neither of them were too keen on asking. To ask a Canidae if they could knot was tantamount to asking a soldier if they’d ever killed someone, it was incredibly rude and inappropriate. You merely assumed one answer and went on with your life.

“I mean…we could always wait and see.”

“I can see in your face that answer does not sit well with you, Kompis.” Thor answered, brushing a gentle hand through Bruce’s hair.

“I just hate leaving things to chance, especially with those two. We were responsible for them, Thor, and even if this works and Howard’s here and they no longer need us, up until that moment we are _still_ responsible for them.”

“Aye, I concur. Mayhap we should ask? Not Steve certainly, but Bucky? He would be able to share his wishes expressly with us, and therefore eliminate this foolish guessing.” Thor suggested and Bruce thought it over for a minute before nodding.

It might be awkward but so was the first time Steve had flushed and sprawled himself across Bruce’s lab table, begging to be fucked. If Bruce could get through that, he could easily face up to asking Bucky what he wanted during this heat. Bruce’s thoughts were interrupted as Thor maneuvered him around until he was sprawled over the bed, the Hundr draped around him like a particularly mobile duvet. He let out a small laugh as Thor’s huff tickled his ears and made them twitch.

“Something amuses you, Kompis?” Thor rumbled and Bruce shivered at the low tone, as well as at the fingers gently tracing nonsensical patterns on his abs.

“No, nothing. I’m just…I’m very happy here with you, Thor. I didn’t think that would ever be possible, to be honest. Never really assumed anyone would want me long enough to bond.” Bruce murmured softly and Thor grunted at his words, burying his face in Bruce’s throat.

“I am glad of that, if we are being truthful. Were you bonded before I would have been torn over my honor and my want of you. Though…we are not fully bonded. You still must gift me your bonding bite.”

The words made Bruce stiffen, a movement that Thor felt and drew back to look at him, brows drawn low. He looked away and bit his lip, his ears flattening to his head as he avoided his lover’s gaze.

“I…can’t.” He said finally, and Thor arched a brow.

“You cannot? Or you do not wish to? I shall not be angry if it is not something you wish to gift to me.”

“No!” Bruce burst out, waving his hands in front of his face, Thor jerking back with an amused look to avoid getting smacked.

Bruce scrubbed his hands over his face and thought about what he should say. It wasn’t something that was talked about, even within the Canidae race, and was actually the main reason pits were labeled a dangerous breed to get involved with.

Bruce wished he was exaggerating but when he’d taught at the college, a PSA had gone out cheerfully labeled ‘Don’t Let A Pit Pull One Over!’, and told students to be absolutely sure of the breed of their intended bondmate before allowing them to clamp down.

“It’s not…that I don’t want to. I do, I really do. But a pit bonding is…different than all the rest.”

Thor shifted into a comfortable position and nodded, gesturing for Bruce to go on. It seemed he was content to listen to Bruce’s explanation for as long as it took. It was nice….but at the same time, this conversation was going to be hell anyways. Look at what had happened with Betty, after all. Even before the Other Guy had shown up, the minute she’d realized his thin tail and ears designated him as a pit and not a greyhound, she’d abruptly ended any romantic relationship they could have had.

“Okay, you don’t have pits on Asgard, do you? Or German Shepards? Rottweilers?”

“Nay. Our designations are of Asgardian animals, such breeds do not exist. What is a ‘German Shepard’? I have met you and the rock creature from the group of four is a Rottweiler, but I have not met this German designation.”

Oh, thank god, a tangent and a delay of the conversation. Bruce thought for a moment, running his mind over the people they knew. German Shepard’s were incredibly rare, usually they were bred out until they were designated as wolves or another domestic breed. He hadn’t met many in his life, and the crossover of people he _and_ Thor were acquainted with was laughably small. Still, there had to be someone….

“Oh! You remember meeting the mutant named Erik Lensherr?”

“The metal manipulator who is bonded to the Leporidae mind reader?”

“Yeah, the one who kept huffing at Clint and Tony for chewing on Charles’ ears. He’s a German Shepard. One of the few left. You’ll notice he’s got a bonding bite but Charles doesn’t?”

“Aye, I did notice. I had often wondered why, but it seemed impolite to merely ask.”

Bruce squared his shoulders, as best he could lying flat on his back on the bed, and huffed out a big breath. Here goes nothing, this would be the conversation that would have Thor never again bringing up the subject of bonding. If he was lucky, the Hundr would still want to sleep with him, if not…well, without constant touch to a mate, the bonding bite would eventually fade away and not be so constant a reminder of his shortcomings. That’s why designations chose to wear wedding rings if their bonded passed away, to indicate they had once been bonded even after the mark disappeared.

“Canidae like us, Pit bulls, Shepards, Rotts, and a handful of others, our bonding bites don’t work in the same way that, say, Steve’s would. When we bite down like that, our jaws actually lock in place and don’t release for a while, like a knot.”

Thor nodded, seeming surprised but otherwise unconcerned with the information.

“And why should this affect your desire to gift me the bite?”

Bruce goggled at him for a moment before shaking his head, scrubbing a hand over his mouth.

“Thor, do you have any idea the amount of damage that could be done from the sustained hold of a bite that, at minimum, tests out at about 200 PSI?! Add in that it’s so near a major artery, the chance of accidental hemorrhage is incredibly high. There’s a reason no one who is bonded to a…well, they call us ‘red-zone breeds’, bears a bonding bite. It’s dangerous.”

And if anyone needed proof of just how dangerous and harmful, Bruce would be glad to pull out the only picture of his mother he had left, her hair pulled back neatly, a soft smile on her face, and massive scarring on her throat from where his father had locked down repeatedly.

“You assume Hundr can be harmed by such a thing. There are many more creatures in Asgard who have bonding bites just as powerful, though the ‘lock’, as you call it, does not exist. I do not fear your bite, no more than I fear you knotting me.” Thor replied easily, pressing kisses up and down the length of Bruce’s throat, nuzzling into his own bonding bite.

Bruce shivered under the attention, his jaw aching as if in some Pavlovian response to the permission, even as his rational mind protested against it. Thor had no idea what he was giving Bruce permission to do and he wouldn’t take ignorance as an excuse to explain to their teammates why Thor was walking around with scarring.

“Thor, I could seriously hurt you.” He protested and Thor simply made a acknowledging sound into his throat, wrapping Bruce up in his arms.

“Unlikely, Kompis, I am tougher than you think.”

“I think you’re plenty tough.”

“Then you shall gift me your bite and I shall hear no more arguments on the subject.” Thor commanded, and in that moment, in his regal voice, Bruce could easily see Thor sprawling across the throne, every bit an alien prince.

“Alright,” Bruce conceded with a small smile. “I’ll give you the bite. But not now, later. After we deal with Bucky and Howard and everything else.”

Thor nodded his agreement before capturing Bruce’s mouth in a gentle kiss. As he whined into his Canem’s mouth and felt the Other Guy rumble in response to the warmth spreading inside him, Bruce wondered if maybe, possibly, his luck was turning around after all these years.

Stranger things had happened, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kompis- Asgardian term meaning mate
> 
> Socium- This is actually a very archaic term used sparingly in the US but fairly commonly in other cultures. (like Russia!) It is technically defined as 'partner', but it means so much more. A Socium is someone whom a designation trusts their life, mate, and all their possessions to. There is a ceremony and everything that leaves marks on the two binding their lives together. It is not something entered into arbitrarily, nor is it something that can be broken. Generally these bonds are entered into after someone has shown their complete loyalty to someone, usually during a traumatic experience. A Socium would have control over everything the designation owned post-death, including any mates. It can be circumvented, of course, by either party if pre-agreed upon during the ceremony. (Fun Fact: Natasha and Phil's ceremony took place the moment they got back from Budapest!)


	6. Of Failed Experiments and Social Mistakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reactor doesn't work like everyone thought it might, and Clint should study correct social interaction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took forever! Luckily, the story should pick up and come a bit easier now.  
> Hope you guys enjoy!

“You all right?” Steve asked out of the corner of his mouth when Bucky shifted next to him for the third time in two minutes, shuddering at the feeling of his clothing rubbing against his skin.

“I’m so fucking close.” Bucky growled out, rolling his shoulders and moving a step closer to Steve inside the reactor.

Steve clenched his fist around the stone Thor had given him, looking over to where the Hundr and Bruce were keeping a close eye on them. They’d all sat down yesterday and talked about Bucky’s heat, asking what they wanted to do. Steve had told them he would take care of the collie alone, unwilling to be in the middle of the deep bond Bruce and Thor had formed even as they both stressed it was completely fine. Apparently, they hadn’t been aware he was able to knot and that was their main concern. After a few stories about being with Howard back in the day, Thor and Bruce had conceded he obviously didn’t need any assistance taking care of Bucky.

“Should we put this off? We can do it after your heat, Bucky.”

“No!” The younger man snapped, shaking his head and wrapping his arms around himself. “No, Steve, I can’t. What if we put it off and it works? Then I wasted my chance at a heat where I could knot Howard while you locked into me.”

The low words made Steve shiver but he had to admit the other Kyon had a point. They’d had one chance, back early on in their relationship, where Bucky, Steve, and Howard had all been in the same place during Bucky’s heat. The memories of that night made Steve swallow hard and shift, his cock thickening within his khakis.

“All right over there?” Bruce called out from where he stood behind a massive array of glowing lights and levers, Thor watching them closely.

“All good. Ready when you are!” Steve said in return, catching Bucky’s hand with his free one.

The collie shivered and pressed close, sticking his nose against Steve’s throat and inhaling. Steve shifted under the attentions as Tony called out things for Bruce to check before initialization. The Felidae had looked nervous this whole time, Clint and Phil sticking close to him. Steve winced at the knowledge of what Tony must be going through to do this for him and vowed to make it up to the tiger somehow.

“Okay, we’re ready when you guys are. Thor, what exactly do they do?” Tony asked and the Hundr made motions as he spoke, gripping his hands together.

“Both of you must hold the stone within your hands, it needn’t be any particular way, merely that you both be touching it. Think of nothing else but your desire to see your bondmate, hold him, mate him once more.”

Steve and Bucky nodded in tandem, the smaller Canidae practically leaning all his weight onto Steve as he wrapped his other hand around the stone in Steve’s. Steve pressed a slight kiss to Bucky’s lips, nuzzling him slightly as Tony started out a countdown in the background.

“No matter what, we still have each other.” He whispered and Bucky nodded before squeezing his eyes shut tight, the slow grind of his hips into Steve’s letting the retriever know Bucky was definitely thinking of Howard.

There was a blinding light around them that Steve barely noticed, too caught up in memories of making Howard scream, the Leporidae shamelessly begging to be knotted, of snuggling the small man between them on rare peaceful nights. Once the light faded abruptly Steve blinked open his eyes, the smile on his face melting off at the lack of a new body in the room.

“I don’t understand.” Tony snarled, ripping his safety goggles off. “Everything was perfect, my old man should be here right now!”

Steve tuned out the sound of him grumbling in frustration, banishing the ache that had set up in his chest when Bucky made a particularly pitiful whine, jerking his hips against him as the sweet smell of Bucky's heat shifted from barely noticeable to incredibly strong.

“It happens, maybe it wasn’t mean to be. If you will excuse us.” Steve said, proud of how even his voice sounded as he set the stone down on a nearby table, hurrying the moaning collie out of the room and to their bedroom.

It had been a nice fantasy, but apparently that was all it was ever meant to be.

**************************************

Tony threw down the pen he was using to move around equations on the holoboard in frustration, letting out a rough scream. Everyone else had already turned in, Steve tending to Bucky’s heat and the rest of them easily accepting the rush of pheromones that came with being so close to a fertile designation. But Tony had waved Phil and Clint up to bed alone, determined to figure out what in the hell he’d done wrong. The equations had stayed the same, everything he wrote down or solved out telling him his pops should have popped onto that pad and been dragged off for heat-sex with his once and future mates.

A high pitched whine from behind him barely registered as he grasped his hair with both hands, leaning on his elbows and staring down at his equations in irritation. Tony stood suddenly, reaching for his coffee mug, intent to drop by the kitchen before heading up to bed. Maybe a good night’s rest would help him out, make him see whatever he kept missing.

He turned, freezing in place at the sight that greeted him, coffee mug slipping from suddenly numb fingers. Inside the reactor, in a pair of briefs, a tank top, and Steve’s dress uniform jacket, stood a twenty-something version….of his dad.

“Uh…hi.” Howard raised a hand in greeting, the long jacket sleeve slipping down his arm.

Tony dumbly mimicked the gesture, looking over the man. Howard really was a bunny, as evidenced by the charcoal ears flopping down on either side of his head. He was also sporting a bonding bite on either side of his neck and various fingerprint sized bruises on his thighs and calves. This was really his father…it had worked, everything had worked. It had been delayed, and Tony was certainly going to figure out why, but it had worked after all.

“Hey, pal, uh…where am I exactly?” Howard asked, stepping gracefully off the pad with a tell-tale limp that let Tony know those bruises weren’t very old.

“Um…Hey, take a seat, come here.” Tony babbled, crossing to grasp Howard’s arm and tug him towards the small circle of couches Clint and Phil had demanded he put in the lab so they could snuggle in between Tony’s frantic inventing.

Howard followed easily with a confused frown and a curious sniff when Tony got close enough. The tiger could feel his tail lashing behind him with the flurry of panicked thoughts in his brain, ears twitching this way and that. He sat down, tucking his tail around him so it wouldn’t catch, Howard settling gingerly on the couch next to him, their knees almost brushing from the angle of their bodies.

“What was the last thing you remember?” He asked, and Howard’s ears twitched as his body coiled slightly.

“Look, all this technology….if this is some HYDRA base, I’m not telling you a thing.” Howard said back, his body thrumming with the same determined air Tony had seen some SHEILD Leporidae walk around with.

He quickly shook his head and flattened his ears, trying to make himself look a bit smaller. Tony wanted…no, he _needed_ Howard to trust him. Needed him to not flip his shit.

“No, no, nothing like that. Uh…more like Avengers base of operations. We’re a…paramilitary organization, fighting the good fight for lady liberty.”

“Now that, my friend, is a lie. I provide all military weaponry and technology and _none_ of this came from me.” Howard stood, looking ready to bolt if need be and Tony had the sudden absurd image of him chasing Howard down the hallways of the tower, the man hopping rather than running.

He panicked, standing as well and reaching out for Howard’s arm, catching it in a tight grip. The Leporidae yelped and jerked backwards, Tony having to spread his stance and lock his knees to avoid being pulled over.

“Wait! Howard, stop!”

“How the hell do you know my name?!”

“Because I’m your son!” Tony snapped before he could think about it, Howard stopping his struggles instantly to blink at him in confusion.

Tony let his father go when it became apparent that Howard wasn’t going anywhere anymore, sitting down heavily on the couch once more and letting his head drop into his hands. He felt Howard sit down next to him after a long moment, looking over at him without lifting his head. His ears were wiggling slightly as he looked between Tony and the room around them, the same expression Tony had seen on his own face reflected in holoboards when he was getting close to figuring something out.

“What…year is it?” Howard asked slowly, turning his body more towards Tony.

“Two thousand and fourteen.” Tony answered and Howard made a low chittering noise, biting down on his lip.

“So then…the war ended?”

“Yeah, we won.”

“And…Cap? Bucky?” Howard’s voice said he already thought he knew what the answer would be, his face falling.

Tony groaned and leaned back in the seat, scrubbing a hand over his face.

“That bit, that’s more complicated. Listen, shit is a lot different now. You—You’re not supposed to be here. You’re here by way of my awesome mind, help from my awesome science bro, and some magical hocus pocus.”

Howard had an absurd expression on his face, which Tony understood when he realized what exactly had come out of his mouth. They sat there for a moment staring at one another before Howard exhaled slowly, reaching out to lay a hand on his forearm. Tony jerked at the contact, his eyes darting to Howard’s hand. He noticed with a small amount of shock that Howard was wearing a silver band on his ring finger. Tony recognized that ring…Howard had worn it his entire life, up until he’d died. He had always figured, though he hadn’t ever asked, his mother had given it to Howard.

Apparently, he had been dead wrong.

“Look, I don’t understand any of that. I will, I’m sure, eventually. But I understand that you’re my son, I can scent it on you. So, I’ll trust you. I have a few questions, though.”

Tony blinked and swallowed against the warmth in Howard’s voice when he’d called him his son. In a way, this man wasn’t the same Howard he’d known growing up, wasn’t cold and angry. He had always wondered what his father had been like younger, before he became the man he had been.

Turns out, he was….pretty nice actually.

“Y-Yeah, definitely. If I can answer, I will. Just, let me call someone first, okay?”

Howard smiled and nodded, turning his attention to the computer screen on the table while Tony scrambled across the room and dialed furiously on his phone. He paced back and forth while he waited for it to connect, shooting looks at Howard who was typing on the screen furiously.

God, he hoped the guy didn’t accidentally find porn or something.

“Tony-baby? What’s the matter?”

“Clinty-cat, I need Phil down here. Now!” He snapped, and the line went dead in his ear after the sounds of a scramble.

A gasp from behind him had Tony’s ears standing straight up and his tail curling around his leg as he turned, dreading what in the world Howard could have found to force that soft sound out of him. When he saw his father, hand clapped over his mouth with tears streaking down his cheeks, Tony was momentarily thrown. But instinct to comfort a family member wore out over his past as well as his shock and he crossed the distance quickly, plopping down next to Howard. He placed a hand on the Leporidae’s arm, yelping when Howard grasped onto his hand in a way Tony had always wished he would as a child, looking away from the screen in front of him. Tony directed his attention to the screen and swore at the news article he found, closing it out with a rough motion.

“Hey, Howard, hey. It’s gonna be all right. It happened and it’s over with.”

“You were attacked! And almost killed! By the man I’ve been friends with since I was a teenager!” Howard snapped, scrubbing at his face and turning towards Tony.

“Well, yeah, but I’m fine now! Perfectly stellar, bonded and everything!”

“You—You’re bonded?” Howard asked, his train of thought visibly thrown by the news.

Tony nodded and tapped on the table once more, bringing up pictures of he and Clint and Phil from various banquets and ceremonies in the past years. Howard leaned forward curiously, swiping through them with an ease that Steve still didn’t have even after being out of the ice for a while. Tony grinned at the fact that his dad was years in the future dealing with tech he could only dream about and was still adapting like a champ. The sound of the elevator dinging open had Tony twisting to look over the back of the couch and he waved to catch Phil and Clint’s attention. The two men paused from where they had charged from the elevator, Phil in sleep pants and a white tee, gun down by his thigh, and Clint hanging onto his bow, in basketball shorts and nothing else except a few bite marks along his torso, bisected by the quiver strap. He pointed with frantic motions at Howard who was still engrossed in the pictures, Phil nodding in understanding while Clint merely looked confused, the tufts on hair on his ears, which were hidden by the messy bed head he was rocking, quivering black points over his sandy blonde locks.

Tony patted Howard on the thigh, leaving the man on the couch with a request to stay away from any news sites until he came back and going over to his abandoned lab bench. Phil followed him over while Clint went to plop down next to Howard, pointing things out the screen. Tony grinned at the kittens social antics before plopping down on the stool and leaning his head into Phil’s stomach. He felt the relaxing stroke of his Felis’ hand through his hair and purred slightly, rolling his forehead against the hard muscles.

“What in the hell happened, Gatto?” Phil asked and Tony groaned, pulling his head up to jerk it in Howard’s direction.

“I was just sitting here trying to figure out why the reactor didn’t work, and then he was just here! And I can’t go get Bucky and Steve because I’m sorry, not going near a Canidae when their Kyon is in heat. Did that in college and almost got my throat ripped out by this little spaniel girl who brought me cookies the next week to apologize. Damn good cookies, not worth the emotional trauma.”

Phil chuckled softly, crossing his arms and looking over to where Clint was telling Howard something, making grand gestures that had the Leporidae laughing and shaking his head. Tony smiled at the sight. His kitten could make friends with a tree, despite everyone’s assumption that the lynx was stand-offish and cold.

“You’ve got a point, bursting in on Steve and Bucky could end badly, even for Thor and Bruce until Steve got a hold of himself. At the same time, Howard needs to be briefed on this era and what’s what. He’ll also need to report for medical testing. Perhaps it’s a good thing he came while Steve and Bucky were distracted. We’re going to need the—“ Phil was cut off suddenly by a loud yelp and their heads swiveled as once to see Howard yanking his ear away from Clint’s mouth, scrambling over the back of the couch.

Phil cursed then uttered an even filthier word when Clint went to reach for the Leporidae, a look of concern and regret on his features, and Howard bolted, scooting inside the elevator and closing it behind him.

“JARVIS, initiate a lock-down. Do NOT let my dad get out of the Avengers areas up here. Send out a mass message that he’s here and he’s running, so they don’t startle him, or in Natasha’s case, shoot him.” Tony commanded, the AI sending confirmation of the actions by the time Tony and Phil had made their way to Clint.

The lynx sat dejectedly on the couch, looking towards the elevator Howard had disappeared into. His ears were pressed so low the tufts were no longer even sticking up and he looked like he’d just shot someone’s puppy. Tony eased onto the couch next to him, Phil sliding in on his other side.

“Clinty-cat, what did you do?” Tony asked gently, Clint turning his sad stare onto him.

“I did what I do with every other SHIELD agent! We were joking around and I grabbed a hold of his ear! I didn’t know he was coming off his neural suppressants.”

Tony blinked at Phil over Clint’s head as the kitten nuzzled into his shirt, Phil scrubbing a frustrated hand over his face.

“Clint, do you know who that was?”

The lynx turned his head at Phil’s voice, twisting his body so he could look at Phil and still be pressed against Tony.

“Erm…new SHIELD consultant?” Clint guessed and Phil sighed, shaking his head.

“No, Clint. That was Howard Stark. You didn’t read his SSR file?”

Even from his vantage point Tony could see the color drain from Clint’s face as the lynx shook his head frantically.

“No! Oh, God, guys I’m so sorry!” Clint whined, burying into Tony as the tiger stroked a slow hand down his spine.

“Hey, it’s okay, no harm done. You didn’t know, you were just being yourself.” Tony whispered soothingly, his other hand coming up to flick at the tufts playfully.

“There might be no harm done,” Phil spoke up, phone already to his ear as he stared at the elevator Howard had disappeared inside. “But it’s certainly not okay. We need to find him, and fast. Before he stumbles onto something, or heaven forbid some _one_ , he’s not supposed to.”


	7. You're Out Of Time Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Howard Stark learns the differences of this century, shows his true colors, and gets an unhappy ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this chapter....this freaking chapter killed me. I'm sorry if it falls flat it's right between two incredibly charged chapters and I think that shows :( Regardless, enjoy!

Howard skidded around yet another corner and grabbed for the first door he found, throwing it open and lunging inside. He bent over once he’d slammed it behind him, bracing himself on his knees and panting, trying desperately to get rid of the burn in his lungs. Howard was in shape, you had to be if you were going to run around an army base, but he wasn’t cut out for sprinting around a strange place. If that damn lynx hadn’t latched onto his ear, he wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place. Howard heaved a sigh and reached up to finger the tip of his ear, smoothing away the dampness from the Felidae’s mouth.

Maybe in this era, whenever it was, randomly biting and touching others was normal. Regardless, Howard was quite obviously bonded and even if his bondmates were, he swallowed hard at the thought, long dead, the cat still should have respected the markings. He sighed and rolled his shoulders, slicking back the hair that had fallen into his eyes and settling Steve’s jacket higher on his shoulders. Howard went to take a step forward when a booming voice had him yelping and jumping back into the door, arms spread wide.

“Little rabbit! From where have you come?”

Howard looked over to where a massive….thing….was coming out of what he assumed was the bathroom. The…dog, he was going to guess, had a towel wrapped around his waist and was drying off his hair with another. His ears were massive golden peaks, matching the bushy tail that swung curiously behind him as he regarded Howard with a concerned frown on his face. Howard realized he was still waiting on a response and shifted awkwardly, pressing even further back into the door as if by sheer force of will he could shift through it into the hallway.

“Er…I’m from…1942.”

The alien Canidae brightened at the words, a broad grin stretching across an, admittedly, very handsome face. He slung the towel he was using to dry his hair over one shoulder and clapped his hands together happily, calling over his shoulder as he strode towards Howard.

“Kompis! Come! Your experiment was not a failure!”

Howard started to hyperventilate as the man got closer and closer, fully aware that the man could easily out-run him and pin him if he wanted. He was as well built as Steve, mixed the same certain lithe-ness that Bucky had, and both of them had always been able to pin him within moments of him tearing off in any direction. With them, it had been a fun game, a game of how fast and smart Howard was after they’d pinned him down and brought him to the edge with his ears alone.

With this strange dog, it would be like the hunts of old and Howard had no desire to be a trophy on someone’s wall.

He bent his head just as the sounds of another padding into the room reached his ears, baring his bond marks in the hopes that these two would at least respect them. Howard chittered in distress when the alien crouched in front of him, looking up into Howard’s eyes.

“Be of ease, little rabbit. We mean no harm to you.”

Howard opened his mouth to respond when a gentle touch landed on his forearm and a soft voice spoke up.

“He’s right. Just try and breathe, okay? We don’t want you passing out.”

He turned his head to see the speaker and once the breed registered with him, Howard shook off the arm violently and hit the floor, curling his arms over his head.

“Don’t! Do whatever you want,” Howard directed at the huge dog still crouching near him. “Please, I don’t care, fuck me, hit me, use me but please don’t let him bite me! I don’t want my throat ripped out, I don’t want to die that way!”

The Pit Bull that had touched him made a softly wounded noise, stepping back a few steps as the Canem in front of him roughly barked, Howard flinching and yelping at the noise.

“We wish to help you, little rabbit, but I will **not** have my mate disparaged in such a way. He is a peaceful Canem and you shall treat him as such.”

Howard nodded mutely, biting down on his lip and going willingly as the man guided him to his feet, leading him over to a small sitting area. He sat and inhaled sharply as the two settled across from him, the strange dog wrapping an arm around his lover. It struck him suddenly, the absurdity of the situation, and Howard started laughing, able to hear the manic tone in his voice.

“What is amusing, little rabbit?”

“It’s just—Twenty minutes ago I got up from laying between my lovers to get something to drink and now…now I’m years in the future, meeting my son, and having a conversation with some alien Canidae and a Pit Bull.”

He collapsed in hysterics once more, the tears streaking down his cheeks half amusement and half agony at being separated from his lovers. Howard could see the Canidae across from him watching him with fond amusement, the way a parent watches a child as they tell a wild story they’ve invented. He finally settled and breathed deeply, trying to ease the tightness in his ribs, looking across at the two.

“Alright?” The Pit Bulls eyes were kind, and his body was poised in a way that told Howard he was taking care to not do anything that could be assumed as aggressive.

He instantly felt like an ass for insulting and assuming. After all, not all pit bulls were bad, he knew that logically. He’d even met a few in the army, but even then they were still rough and dangerous. Though judgment for many from few was what had Morita snapping at every soldier who made an ignorant comment about his race. That Akita was perhaps one of the fiercest and temperamental creatures Howard had ever met, and he couldn’t be more amused that Dernier was usually the one to snap at he and Dum Dum when they started posturing. Howard had, more than once, leaned up against Bucky watching the poodle jump in between him and the mastiff, snapping at them both to knock it off and huffing when they finally strode away.

“I’m sorry I said those things.” Howard murmured, ears twitching as they tried to flatten further, looking at the pit who smiled softly.

“It’s all right. I know you come from a different time. Pit Bull’s haven’t changed much, to be honest. But there are a few more now that are gentle.”

Howard nodded, watching with an avid interest as the alien Canem nuzzled into the dark haired Canidae’s throat, smiling against the skin.

“You’re….bonded?” He asked, seeing the mark that was uncovered by the movements of the golden dog.

“Aye. In my world it is not un-heard of for Canems to bond, though I am of the understanding it is still uncommon in this world even in this age.”

“Your world?” So he truly was an alien.

“Aye, I am an Aesir, I come from Asgard.”

“Asgard?” Howard narrowed his eyes and blinked at the man, recalling the term from his research into the cube.

“Aye? You have heard of it?”

“Not so much so, but Skull’s got a cube he says comes from your world.”

The man’s face turned thunderous and his mate ran a soothing hand over his shoulders, stroking over the suddenly visible tension.

“Aye. Twas not a pleasant time in either world when the Tesseract went missing in your time.”

His tone said that the subject should be ended swiftly and Howard shifted, mind racing through a thousand questions before settling on the most prominent one. He eyed the man’s huge ears which were back in an upright position after having flattened to his head in anger.

“What are you? Designation, that is.”

“I am an Asgardian Hundr. Unfailingly loyal, brave, and fierce in battle.”

Well…those traits fit perfectly.

“How did you get up here?” The Pit Bull asked, drawing Howard’s attention to him.

“I ran. Met my, ah, well I met my son. We chatted for a while and I met one of his mates. Everything was fine and comfortable and then he…er…” Howard paused awkwardly, not sure how to phrase it.

In his time, you simply didn’t talk about people touching you when they weren’t family or mates. No one really ever did it save for rapists and doctors so it was a bit of a taboo topic. Luckily, the two Canidae exchanged amused looks, the Pit Bull shaking his head.

“Let me take a wild guess; Clint chomped down on one of your ears?”

“Y-yes. How did you—“

Before Howard could finish his question the door to the room was flung open, his son barreling inside followed by a group of people. Howard recognized both of his mates but there was also a fox and another rabbit who he hadn’t met.

“Thor! Bruce! How in the hell did you find him?!” Tony yelped, hurrying over to plop down next to Howard, looking over him with a cursory glance before turning his attention to the Canidae.

“When I emerged from bathing he was in the room.” Thor, at least that’s what Howard assumed, the name fit after all, said with an air of nonchalance.

Tony huffed and looked over at him, just as Howard felt someone else settle at his back. He turned quickly, scooting back towards Tony when he saw it was the same lynx. Said Felidae frowned and his ears flattened as he gave Howard an apologetic look.

“I’m really sorry, man. The…agency that I work for provides all its Leporidae with neural suppressants that make their ears about as sensitive as any other designation. I thought you were a new agent and I should have asked and not assumed.”

Howard shrugged, not particularly ready to hug it out but he wasn’t holding a grudge. The logic stood to reason and he was more curious about the neural suppressant part. Not as curious as he was about some other things, but enough that he could brush off any feelings of ill will. His curiosity, at the moment, was torn between his son, the ‘Asgardian’, and what about Bucky and Steve that was ‘complicated’. Howard offered up his palm and the kitten took it with a grin, touching gently but firmly, like he knew Howard’s feelings on the situation.

Howard let go and turned, blinking at the eyes focused on him. He quirked an eyebrow and Bruce, the name fit the Pit, coughed into his hand, looking between himself and Thor.

“As much as I would love to host you all, I feel like Thor and I are a little underdressed. Maybe we can reconvene somewhere else?”

Tony barked out a laugh and nodded, standing.

“Yeah, we’ll meet up in the team living room. Come on guys, let’s get going.”

Howard rose from his seat, following closely behind his son as they all filed from the room. The mention of their dress made Howard uncomfortably aware of just how much he was wearing, but as his clothing was all he had in this new time, he was reluctant to give it up. Tony seemed shocked when Howard stepped close to him in the elevator, stiffening and shifting closer to Phil in response. The motion confused him but then again Howard supposed it was natural. Tony seemed fairly at ease with all of this, aside from a minor panic in the beginning, it wasn’t unthinkable that some of it would still make him uncomfortable. As they rose, Howard caught a scent on the air, something that made him freeze. It was gone so quickly that he didn’t really even have time to process its location and he brushed it off, guessing the lingering scent of Steve and Bucky must’ve been clinging to his coat instead of in the air.

They exited the elevator and strode into a massive living room, plush couches spread in a wide circle and a massive screen on one wall, what looked like chaise lounges setting in front of it. Howard stopped at the edge of the carpet and stared for a long moment, cataloguing what looked familiar and what he needed to ask about. He was broken from his thoughts when a light touch brushed his elbow and he turned, seeing the darker skinned Leporidae standing there. Howard grinned at him and leaned in to brush their noses together, the common greeting for their designation.

“Hello. Howard Stark.” He said, offering up a palm once he drew back, the other rabbit looking surprised for a moment before chuckling and taking it.

“Jasper Sitwell. It’s been a very long time since I’ve actually been greeted like that.”

Howard blinked and laid his ears lower, looking around at the others who were staring at them curiously. He lowered his voice and leaned in towards Jasper.

“Is that not something done anymore?”

The Leporidae laughed and shook his head, clapping a hand on Howard’s shoulder.

“Oh no, it is. It’s still done. But rabbits in my line of work are more rare. We don’t cross paths often enough to greet in that way.”

Howard nodded in understanding before following the man, smiling slightly at the way the Vulpae he crossed to pulled him in once he was close enough, nuzzling into his throat and nipping at one ear playfully. He moved to where the others had settled on the couches, sitting down on the one closest to Tony and leaning on the arm, shuffling around to settle the jacket.

“There are things we need to brief you on, Mister Stark.” Phil said and Howard nodded, ears perking at the familiarity.

He could tell by Phil’s stance he was military of some sort, relaxed in the way that Steve and Bucky weren’t, but with enough lingering that he could tell he certainly wasn’t a civilian. The thought of his lovers sent a pang of sadness through Howard and his ears drooped once more, brushing his cheeks.

“I understand, and that’s perfectly fine. But I want to know what’s so ‘complicated’ about Steve and Bucky.” He said, watching with curiosity as the names made everyone shift, even Jasper and his mate who had settled on the couch across from Phil, Clint, and Tony.

“Ah…that’s—that information is not something we’re quite ready to reveal at the moment. Post-briefing we would naturally tell you anything you want to know, but for right now—“

“No.” Howard cut Phil off in both words and with a sweep of his hand, inherently angry at the idea that they expected him to sit through a briefing without knowing what became of his mates.

“I want to know about them and I want to know **before** any briefings.”

“That’s not SHIELD policy.” The Vulpae behind him said in a stern voice, Howard turning to arch a brow.

Ah, so that was how he was going to have to be then.

“I don’t give a damn what policies you have to follow. Let me be extremely clear so that I can in no way be misunderstood. I am **not** attending any briefings or anything similar to that until I am given the information I ask for.”

The Vulpae hissed at his imperious tone and Howard chittered right back, stiffening his spine. He wasn’t going to give in. He was Howard Anthony Stark, goddamnit, and he wasn’t about to start bowing and scraping merely because he was in another century.

“Mister Stark, I’m sure that we can work out a plan that is acceptable to all involved. Clay, stop snarling at him.” Phil spoke up, bringing the attention back to him as the Vulpae huffed and settled back into his couch.

“I don’t see how my plan is unacceptable. I’m asking for simple information and in return I will answer any questions you may ask me.”

“The information you’re asking for is not so simple. It would be much easier to brook the subject once we have formally briefed—“

“How fast can you run, Phil?” Howard broke in, settling on the edge of his seat.

Phil blinked, looking confused by the question before slowly answering.

“Fairly quickly. I’m a black jaguar, so my speed is considerable even with my age—“

“But you do have the understanding that there is one Felidae breed out there who can catch a rabbit if they are determined to run and you are not it, yes?”

Phil’s eyes narrowed slightly, lighting on Howard’s position and darting to the elevator and back. He shifted as well, Howard tensing in return.

“I am. I am also aware that momentarily we will be joined by two Canidae and that even the fastest rabbit can always be tracked down by a dog.”

Howard gritted his teeth at the vaguely threatening tone, his skin crawling at the idea of being intimidated into not getting the information he wanted. He didn’t understand why it was so fucking difficult to tell him about Steve and Bucky. Even if they had passed violently, Howard shivered at the thought, it wasn’t something that would be unexpected. They were soldiers after all. One more glance at Phil’s face told Howard he was not going to get his way in this and he bounced his legs for a moment, getting blood rushing back into them before shooting a vicious grin at the Felis.

“Then I suppose, Phil, I’ll have to get out before they get here.”

With those words, ignoring shouts from behind him, Howard took off, hitting the elevator at a dead run and slamming the doors shut before anyone but Jasper had gotten within ten feet of them. He let his fingers dance over the keys, before finally pressing the one to take him to the sixth floor. That was where Howard had scented the smell and even if it had merely been his jacket, he still wanted to be surrounded by that while his heart pounded with the knowledge he was going to be actively pursued now. As he got closer to the floor, however, the scent rose once more and Howard inhaled deeply, leaning against the back wall and huffing at the way his body naturally reacted.

Great, because running around in the future with a hard-on was _exactly_ what Howard had planned to do when he rolled out of bed that morning.

He expected the scent to lessen or disappear, however once the doors slid open upon reaching his floor it…strengthened. Howard inhaled deeply, letting the scent sink into his chest and wrap around his spine, following it. It only got stronger and stronger as he approached a door at the end of the hall and a part of Howard, the fanciful part that thought he and Steve and Bucky would go home from the war and make a family somewhere, thought maybe his lovers hadn’t died. Maybe they’d been brought to the future as well. He paused with his hand on the doorknob, the scent so thick Howard could taste it on the back of his tongue, all licorice sharp and caramel thick, a scent unique to Bucky. From within he could hear moans, the barest hint of mumbled words, and growls that were as familiar as his own face in the mirror. It was Steve and Bucky! Somehow, someway they were here just as Howard was. Turning the knob he frowned when it refused to budge and instead rose a hand up at rap sharply on the door.

“Go away!” Steve snapped from within and Howard nearly moaned aloud at the pleasure that swamped through him at hearing his lover’s voice once more.

“Steve, it’s me! It’s Howard!” He called, bouncing impatiently on the balls of his feet as the sound of footsteps suddenly pounded across the floor. “Open up! If Buck’s in heat you know I want to—“

Howard was cut off when the door swung open and Steve fisted a hand in the front of his jacket, dragging him into the room and shutting the door before slamming Howard against it so hard his teeth rattled. Bucky was sitting on the bed, looking inherently angry as well and Howard only had time to briefly wonder what in the hell had gotten into his lovers before Steve wrapped a hand around his throat and pinned him to the wall with that as well. Howard gasped and tugged at his wrist, blinking at his lover’s furious face.

“Steve! What in the hell—“

“You’re not Howard Stark. And you have exactly five seconds to tell me who the fuck you really are before I _rip your throat out_.”

Son of a bitch.


	8. Bet That I Can Make You Believe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Howard convinces his lovers, shares a heat, and finds out the truth about the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Freaking finally! I am so sorry you guys, I really am. Writers block coupled with a new round on the avengers kink meme had me starting 20 new stories and completely unable to write a single sentence in this one. I hope you enjoy it!

Howard shifted against Steve’s hold, keeping his posture submissive when the movements made the Canidae snarl. He shot a desperate look over to Bucky, but the collie was eyeing him with the same distrust.

“Steve, Buck, I can’t—I’m Howard. I’ve got your jacket on!”

“And I’d like to know who the fuck you stole it from, because you are **not** Howard Stark.”

“How am I not?!” Howard burst out, whining when his shriek made Steve snarl and Bucky jump from the bed, teeth bared and ears flattened.

“You don’t smell like Howard.” Bucky rumbled, the words sounding like they were torn from his stomach instead of his chest.

Howard let out a small groan and resisted the urge to bang his head against the door. Of course! He’d been chewed on by an unfamiliar Felidae, greeted a fellow rabbit, and been around two Canidae who had _obviously_ just gotten through screwing and were brimming with pheromones. Of course he didn’t smell like the Howard they were used to!

“I am! I am, I’ll prove it. I’ll do anything to prove it, just—Please believe me.” He whined, shaking at the idea of the men he’d been screwing literally a little over two hours ago writing him off.

Or worse, with how tight Steve’s hand was against his throat.

And of course, because he could already smell the sweetening in the air, he had a limited amount of time to _prove_ he was who he said, because the second Bucky’s next heat wave hit Steve was going to throw him out on his ass.

Howard’s mind raced and he thought desperately about how in the hell he could prove he was who he said he was. Normally bonding bites would be enough but at this point Steve probably figured they were from one of the other designations he smelled like. The tightening of Steve’s hand heralded a thicker scent filling the room, Bucky shifting his stance and biting his lip, whining low. Every part of Howard was screaming at him to go to his mate, to hold and comfort and ease him through the pain that set in occasionally during a heat but if he moved right now Steve was going to rip his throat out.

His throat! Damnit, why didn’t he think of that sooner?!

“Steve! My throat, look under my jawbone. There’s a small scar right there from that time Bucky dug his nail in too tightly!”

Steve’s face shifted, righteous fury changing to hopeful longing as he roughly shoved Howard’s head back. The hand gripping his front released almost instantly, moving up to stroke over the small crescent scar.

“Howard.” He breathed and the Leporidae nearly sobbed.

“Yes! Yes, God, Steve, it’s me. It’s me, I’m here.”

Steve released his throat and leaned in for a kiss when a massive heatwave washed over them both, stiffening Steve’s shoulders and buckling Howard’s knees. Howard barely had time to look over at Bucky, now sitting on the bed and shaking, before Steve grasped him by the back of his jacket and shoved him towards the smaller Canidae.

Howard stumbled over, Bucky reaching up and catching him, immediately pulling him into a rough, filthy kiss. He straddled the younger man, keeping their mouths connected until the sudden movement of their bodies had him yanking away in surprise. Steve had shoved them both further up the bed and was kneeling between Bucky’s thighs. Howard read the glint in his eyes and eased them both down until Bucky was flat, shifting up his body a bit further so that Steve could hike his legs into the air.

“Oh, fucking— **Steve**!” Bucky howled, the jolt running through him letting Howard know Steve had sank deep inside their lover.

Howard shivered and leaned down to pull Bucky into another kiss, grinding their cocks together slowly. Bucky moaned into his mouth as Steve set a harsh, jolting rhythm, moving them all on the bed with his strength. The Canidae’s hands scrambled at Howard’s clothes, pulling at the jacket and the briefs he wore.

“Off, off. Ah, fuck, Steve, so goddamn good. Get these off, Howard. **Now**.” The snarl in Bucky’s voice left no room for debate and Howard slipped off to the side, stripping out of the clothes quickly.

He paused once he was down to Bucky’s dog tags and nothing else, watching the scene in front of him and trying not to drool. Steve was fucking Bucky desperately, ears lying flat as he shoved his half-formed knot in and out of the younger pup, pulling high whines from the collie. Bucky was writhing underneath Steve’s larger bulk, grasping at the sheets desperately. Howard whined at the sight, running slow hands down his body, grasping the base of his cock tightly. Bucky turned at the sound, letting out a low moan as his eyes traced the length of Howard’s bare form.

“C’mere. Come here and straddle my face.” Bucky ground out and Howard scrambled to comply, easing over Bucky’s body.

The position put him face to face with Steve and he reached up to pull the younger Canidae into a kiss, licking deep and swallowing Steve’s snarl. Bucky’s nails digging into his thighs made Howard jump, moaning into the kiss before pulling back to pant.

“Steve—goddamnit, so fucking thick—put him in heat. Come on, I wanna lick the—ah! Jesus, your _knot_ —wanna lick the slick out of him.”

Howard opened his mouth to protest Bucky’s words. He wanted the collie to enjoy his own heat without having to worry about taking care of Howard too.

“Best idea I’ve heard in a _long_ time.” Steve snapped out, cutting off Howard’s protests as he leaned forward slightly to catch the tip of Howard’s ear.

The sharp burst of pleasure that ran through him had Howard crying out, legs shaking as Steve used the grip to yank him forward. Once he was in a better position Steve licked up the length of his ear just as Bucky sucked the tip of his cock into his mouth. The dual pleasure was the ticket, starting up a low heat in Howard’s belly as his scent mixed with Bucky’s in the air. Sweet and tangy, the mixture making Howard’s head spin as his heat thickened with every gnaw on the sensitive tips of his ears. His arms started to shake and he yanked his ears away with a low whine, head dropping. Bucky smacked his thigh to get his attention and Howard looked through his legs futilely. Not like he could see much of the Canidae’s face with his swollen cock in the way.

“Move your hips down, Coniglio. Come on, put it in my face.”

Howard didn’t even think about disobeying the obvious order, shifting his hips forward and down. At the first touch of Bucky’s tongue to his hole Howard bucked, the moan falling from his mouth echoed by Bucky’s. He wasn’t sure what he expected, maybe for Bucky to take his time since they’d only been together hours ago, but it was as if Bucky hadn’t tasted him in _ages_. His tongue thrust deep, swirling and licking like Howard was a delicacy he’d waited so long to taste.

“Hell, Bucky, hungry?” Howard gasped out, Steve brows furrowing as Bucky made a negligent noise, not stopping his oral acrobatics.

“Missed you.” The retriever gasped out, reaching out to pull Howard into another kiss as he moved harder and faster.

The words didn’t make sense to Howard, not when he thought about the fact that he’d just left their bed a few hours ago, but maybe Steve and Bucky had been transported here earlier? A few days perhaps? His thoughts were cut off when Bucky cried out behind him, his cock spurting under their bodies. Steve ripped his mouth away with a gasp and cried out as he locked into the collie, body stiffening as he came.

Howard shifted awkwardly, heat still coursing through him but his logical mind, the part that was still functioning anyways, telling him to move away and let them recover. He started to move, to shift away from the locked pair, but Bucky’s hands back on his thighs and his tongue going back to work made him freeze and moan. Steve shifted on his knees, the movement drawing a gasp from Bucky, balancing before reaching out and tugging Howard up, catching the tip of his ears once more. Howard shuddered and whined as Steve licked and gnawed gently on his ears, the combination of his lovers attention sending him over the edge quickly. Once the aftershocks had passed and his heat had retreated along with the shudders, that was the bad thing about being a rabbit, their heats came quickly but disappeared if they orgasmed without someone tying with them, they needed the semen of another to keep the heat alive, Howard collapsed to the side. He lazily shifted until he was face to face with Bucky, kissing him deeply and licking the slick from his mouth with small flicks of his tongue.

Once Steve’s knot had finally deflated Howard moved to kneel between Bucky’s legs like he usually did, but Bucky’s hard grasp on his arm stopped him. Steve slipped onto his other side and grasped onto him as well, the Canidae’s trapping him between them as they licked and bit gently at the already present bonding bites on his throat. Howard shifted under the attention, wondering why they were so desperate to touch him when Bucky was the one in heat.

“Guys,” Howard started with a nervous chuckle. “You act like you haven’t seen me in years. This is your heat, Bucky, we should be focused on you.”

“God, you have no idea, do you?” Bucky rumbled against his throat, reaching down between Howard’s legs to slip two fingers inside him, the Leporidae arching and whining at the sudden pressure.

“Missed you so fucking much, Howie.” Steve murmured on his other side, moving his hand down to add his fingers to Bucky’s, stretching Howard out further.

He wanted to ask them so much, like why in the world they were acting like it’d been ages since they all saw each other, but the pressure of their fingers stretching him alongside Steve licking and sucking at his ears had all thoughts except those about getting someone’s cock in him fleeing Howard’s head. The rabbit shuddered hard at the feeling of slipping into heat for the second time in such a short while, writhing and sobbing between the two merciless Canidae.

“C-Come on. Some-someone fuck me. Please, please, j-just—ah!” Howard jerked when Bucky manhandled him into straddling him, his already hard cock nudging at Howard’s hole.

Steve smirked beside them and reared up to guide Bucky’s cock to just the right spot so Howard could sink down in one fluid move. He gasped at the feeling of being filled, as well as the intoxicating scent of Bucky’s heat rearing back into full swing, filling the room with the sweet scent once more. Howard began a harsh tempo, fucking himself on Bucky’s cock like he had back when they would have desperate half-clothed fucks right before a SSR meeting. Steve traced along his back, playing with the base of his tail and whispering into Howard’s ears at just the right volume that Bucky could hear as well.

“Look so goddamn good filled with cock, Howie. Gonna breed you so fucking good. Want that, Coniglio? Wanna be fat and round with our pups? All the time in the world now, we can do it.”

Bucky snarled, lips peeling back from his teeth as he bucked his hips at the words.

“God, please say yes, Howard. Say yes and let me fill you up. Let us fuck you and breed you, keep you filled with cum until we’re sure you’re knocked up.”

Howard could barely speak but to sob out an affirmative. Bucky was right, now that the war was, apparently, over, they really did have time to have a baby. Meeting Tony was fantastic, knowing he’d had a son, and he couldn’t wait to get to know the boy better, but Howard was still a bit sad he’d missed out on carrying Tony and watching him grow up. He’d get a second chance with them now, and he wasn’t about to give it up.

“Yes, yes, please! Bucky, please, please fill me up. Breed me.”

The collie growled, flipping them over and shoving Howard’s thighs wide, pounding in a rhythm that had Howard’s eyes rolling back in his head as he grasped desperately at the Canidae’s shoulders. Steve slipped behind Bucky and the younger pup paused for a moment before jerking and whining low. Howard gasped when Steve thrust forward, now inside Bucky and shoving the collie deeper inside him. They fucked like the room was on fire for a long while, Howard raking his nails down Bucky’s back as he came first, Bucky whimpering once more as Howard locked down around his knot. Howard chittered when Steve’s last few thrusts pulled at Bucky’s lock, sending shudders through both their bodies as he then Steve spilled within seconds of one another.

“Jesus.” Bucky panted, caught between the two, Steve’s bulk holding him up.

“Yeah, buddy.” Howard agreed sleepily, shifting and hissing at the small catch of Bucky’s knot.

Steve whispered something in Bucky’s ear and the pup got a wicked glint in his eyes, leaning down to sink his teeth in a bonding bite that over-lapped his past one, Howard gasping and arching at the feeling. Once Bucky unhooked his teeth from the skin and lapped at the small amount of blood, Howard sighed, reaching up to run gently fingers through his hair as he smiled sleepily at Steve. Heat-sharing would take it out of anyone, especially when Howard had been screwing around with them a short time ago.

They spent the rest of Bucky’s heat in much the same way, all of them reveling in on another’s presence with Bucky and Steve constantly keeping Howard full of someone’s cock, never licking the cum out of him like they usually would in an attempt to ensure pregnancy. By the time the dawn had broken on the next day, Howard was fucked out, sore, and happier than he’d been in a _very_ long time.

Or he would have been if he had woken up to Steve in the bed too and not just Bucky.

Howard sat up gingerly, groaning at the stretch of muscles, the sound rousing Bucky who made a similar noise as he flopped onto his back and cracked open one eye.

“Time?” He grunted and Howard looked around before seeing an alarm clock on the bedside table.

“Almost 7:30.”

“Mmm, Steve’s out for his run. C’mere, sweetheart.” Bucky rumbled, gesturing lazily.

Howard smiled and cuddled into the Canidae’s chest, tracing lazy patterns over his stomach and reveling in the softness of the moment in comparison to the frantic atmosphere of last night.

“Bucky?”

“Hmm?”

“I love you.”

The collie blew out an amused breath over his ears, making Howard shiver and cuddle closer.

“Love you too, darlin’. Hope you’re actually bred.”

Howard nodded his agreement, mind already racing as to how early he could get a test that would prove positive. Leporidae didn’t have the amazingly short pregnancy that their animal counterparts did, but theirs generally lasted about 90 days. Short enough that Howard would be able to tell within the next week or so whether he was carrying, and that stood true whether it was a Leporidae or a Canidae. That was the unusual thing about rabbits, as opposed to Vulpae who had kits no matter who they bred with, their genes were so intertwined that they could actually have any designation of child.

Obviously, given that Howard had apparently given birth to a tiger.

At the thought of Tony Howard’s ears dipped and he chittered low in shame. He had acted like a child yesterday when Phil had tried to debrief him and at some point today he needed to drag his ass down and apologize to the panther. But first…

“Why was Phil so dead set on debriefing me before he let me see you and Steve?”

Bucky growled low in his throat, sitting up and pulling Howard up with him, the strength reminding Howard just how powerful the Canidae was.

“He what?”

“He—damnit, Bucky, don’t grab me so hard—Phil wanted to debrief me on this time period before he let me see you or Steve. I had to actually run away from him, he wasn’t going to budge on doing it in that order.”

The Canidae bared his teeth and started to speak but the opening of the bedroom door cut him off, Steve stomping in like the room was on fire.

“Who the _fuck_ does Fury think he is?!” He snapped, stripping off his shirt and shoes before crawling into the bed, cuddling up on Howard’s free side.

“You found out too?”

“About them trying to debrief Howard before they found us? Yes, and I’ve got a few choice words for Phil about that.” Steve snapped, yanking Howard into fierce kiss, all teeth and tongue.

Howard blinked at the ferocity; memories of the two acting like it had been ages finally resurfacing from the haze of heat. He pulled away with a frown, placing a hand on Steve’s chest when the retriever tried to lean back in.

“Wait, no, hey. That reminds me, everyone kept saying you two were ‘complicated’. What in the hell does that mean? Did you guys get here a while before I did?”

Steve stopped leaning forward, face shuttering as Bucky shifted uncomfortably at his back. The sudden change in their attitudes sent a sense of foreboding through Howard and he scrambled from between them, perching on the end of the bed and looking at the two, ignoring the twinge of pain that came from the upset looks on their faces.

“Howie, sweetheart, come here. Let us explain—“

“No!” He cut off Steve with a sharp sweep of his hand, settling down on the end of the bed and crossing his arms, ignoring the ache that set in at the position. “You two tell me what the hell is going on, right now.”

The Canidae looked at each other for a long moment before Steve sighed, shoving a hand through his hair and shaking his head.

“It is complicated, very much so. We weren’t transported here like you were. When we finally launched the attack on the Red Skull, I had to put down the plane he tried to escape in. It had a bomb on it, headed for New York. I put it into the ice, got locked in there, still alive, for 70 years. SHIELD found me and brought me back, and a little while later I found Bucky.”

Howard’s head was spinning from the information, an ache in his chest at the idea that his lover had…died, essentially. He wondered for a moment where that left him, but before he could ask Bucky spoke up.

“Before all that happened, that mission to capture Zola that we were planning, it went…bad. I almost died, everyone thought I had. The Russians scoured me from the ice, a lot like Steve, repaired me, and made me a brainwashed monster. I killed dozens of people on their orders, not knowing who I was past a weapon to be used. Meeting Steve again broke the brainwashing, brought me back to who I was. We weren’t transported here, Howard. We’ve been living this whole time.”

“I…uh….” Howard opened his mouth and closed it a few times, everything he wanted to say warring for space in his head until his temples started to pound.

His lovers had both almost died, he’d…gone on without them apparently. Tony wasn’t his child with these two, he was a child Howard had had with someone else. He became aware that Bucky and Steve were discussing something quietly and shoved his feelings and questions to the side. Obviously there was more to be told.

“What? What else?” He demanded, spreading his arms wide and glaring at the two.

Bucky sighed and reached down to mess with the watch he had on, punching in a few buttons. It beeped and suddenly where his arm had been normal flesh and blood it was gleaming metal with a red star painted high on his bicep. Howard gaped at him, the engineer taking over the lover as he leaned forward, grasping it and twisting it around.

“Is this…this is bionic? Hooked into your nervous system?”

“Yeah. Falling did some damage, like I said. This is how they fixed it.”

Howard whined at the words, dropping Bucky’s arm and lunging at him, acutely aware of how much pain such a procedure would have entailed. Bucky caught him and tugged him close, murmuring sweet nothings in his ear as Steve stroked a slow hand up and down his back.

“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry you had to go through all that, I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

The two hushed him softly, wrapping him up in their warmth, Steve slipping a hand into the tangle of their bodies to rest against Howard’s stomach.

“It’s the past,” Steve whispered, brushing a gentle kiss against his cheek. “Right now we need to focus on the present. And our future.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also! This will pretty much end Howard/Bucky/Steve's arc of the storyline. They got their HEA, but Howard's pregnancy will be a major feature in the next arc of Clint/Tony/Coulson :D


	9. Can't Be Blamed For The Way That You Feel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fury has shit timing, Howard's a happy Coniglio, and some new characters make appearances, one of them in a very big way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh I'm back! I hope you guys enjoy and as always let me know if there's a character you'd like to see pop up in this :D

“My dad is **pregnant**!”

Clint whined at the anger in his Felis’ voice, popping up from where he had been lounging against the side of the hot tub. He saw Tony stalking towards him, tail lashing behind his body as he stripped off his clothes. The lust that spread through him at the sight of his lover’s body was over-shadowed by his worry for Tony. The tiger had just gotten used to his dad being around, just gotten comfortable with letting the older man touch and absently groom him like normal families did. This could potentially ruin all the work Tony had put into forgiving his dad for all the horrible crap he did and said when the Felidae was younger.

“Shove over, Gatto. Let me crawl in.” Tony said, obviously trying to soften his tone though the irritation was still evident in his voice.

Clint obligingly slid to the far side of the hot tub, shivering when Tony stripped off his boxers and climbed in, sighing at the feeling of the hot water. Clint beat down his urge to turn this sexual, instead sliding over to nuzzle into his lover’s chest, Tony wrapping an arm around his shoulders. He let himself sink into Tony’s embrace, shivering in pleasure when Tony reached up to toy with his tufts, his ears flicking in reaction to the touch.

“Are you okay?” He asked quietly, Tony sighing and nuzzling into his hair.

“I will be, I guess. It just pisses me off.”

“Why?”

Tony made a frustrated noise and shoved a hand through his hair, slicking down his locks, ears flicking in response to the water. Clint was mesmerized for a moment. It was always amazing to see the color changes when Tony’s ears got wet. The orange shifted to numerous shades and changed constantly as it dried. It had been one of the reasons Clint had been attracted to him in the first place, actually being introduced formally to the tiger minutes after he’d hopped out of the shower and dressed quickly for the Avengers de-briefing.

“It just…he’s so goddamn happy. He’s practically fucking _glowing_. My dad is healthy as a horse and yeah, Steve and Bucky are still hovering over him like idiots, but he’s not laid up in bed or anything. Which means, genetically speaking if you make generalizations, pregnancy doesn’t hold much of a threat for my family. My mom didn’t have any issues, and neither is Howard. So there’s—“

“No reason for Phil to worry.” Clint finished for him, suddenly becoming aware of what Tony was so upset about.

His lover nodded and Clint chuffed sympathetically, nuzzling into his throat once more.

“I understand. I know, Tony. It’s frustrating to me too. It’s been three months since we talked about having kids, and with all our heats since then he’s never even made mention. I know he’s getting more comfortable around Jasper and that he’s going to therapy about it. We just…”

“Have to be patient.” Tony sighed, and Clint nodded, purring when the older man rolled his eyes, tugging him into a kiss.

Clint moved to straddle his Felis, huffing when their cocks rubbed against one another, no material in the way to lessen the feeling. Tony drew back and gifted him with a soft look the public no doubt thought Tony Stark incapable of.

“You’re too kind-hearted, Gatto.” He said, leaning in to bite softly at Clint’s ears as his fingers traced gently around the base of his tail.

Clint shivered in response, shoving forwards and taking Tony’s mouth in a greedy kiss, whining when the older Felidae chuckled at his enthusiasm.

“C’mon.” He whimpered, bucking his hips against Tony, grinning slightly at the billionaire’s growl. “Want you to fuck me. Wanna feel you.”

“Ah, yeah? Does my little kitten wanna be fucked stupid right here? Warm and safe and barbed like the good little Gatto he is?”

Clint shuddered once more, nodding furiously and begging mindlessly as Tony started to slowly tease at his hole.

“Please, yes. Please, Tony. T-Take care of me.”

“Oh, don’t worry, darling.” Tony growled, tugging him forward for another kiss and speaking against his mouth. “I’ll take _very_ good care of you.”

***********************************

“I think you’ll fit into the modern era just fine, Mister Stark.”

“Well, thanks, Phil. And listen, call me Howard. Figure I’d better get on a first name basis with my son’s Felis, right?”

Phil nodded, smiling softly and taking the opportunity while Howard gathered his things cast aside for his last medical examination by SHIELD to sniff the air once more. Howard’s scent had changed, only slightly, but enough that it was throwing Phil off. He wasn’t exactly sure what it was about the man, but he even looked slightly different.

Perhaps being bonded was turning out better for Howard Stark than they all had thought.

“Mister Stark! Congratulations!” Phil shot a confused look at the nurse who had stuck her head into the doorway of the room, smiling widely.

To his surprise, instead of being confused, Howard flushed slightly, ears twitching as he grinned back.

“Thank you. We’re…all pretty nervous.”

“Well, no need.” The nurse said happily, stepping into the room to hand Howard a small bunch of papers. “You and that little baby are testing perfectly healthy!”

Oh.

Oh!

“You’re pregnant.” Phil said stupidly, Tony’s foul mood the past week suddenly making a lot more sense.

Howard turned to him and nodded, ears flopping with the Leporidae’s excitement. His reply was hindered by the nurse holding out a few release forms for him to sign but once he had and they were on their way out of the medical facility, Howard spoke up.

“I am. Tony tells me it’s…a problem for you."

Phil shook his head, smirking at the rabbit’s diplomatic tone as they stepped into the elevator. It would certainly seem the Howard Stark that Steve and Bucky had met while younger was a very different man indeed from the one who had raised Tony.

“It’s not a problem, per se. I have bad experiences with it. And so, therefore, it’s something I would prefer to not have my mates go through.”

“Ah, that’s unfortunate then. Tony seemed excited by the prospect of young.”

Silence fell over the elevator after his quiet statement, Phil thinking back. It was true, time had passed, and he was indeed more comfortable around pregnant people. But the fear still resided there and he loved Clint and Tony far too much to ever put them in danger.

Though his research had indicated maybe the danger was not so much anymore.

“Are you scared?” He asked suddenly and Howard offered him a small smile, resting a hand on his stomach.

“A little? There’s things that can go wrong, yes. Even in the modern era with all your amazing technology. But genetically speaking there aren’t many threats against my pregnancy, and I believe that everything will be alright.”

“Steve and Bucky aren’t frightened?”

Howard hummed under his breath as they stepped out of the elevator and made their way to Phil’s car.

“I think in a way they are, but not for the same reasons. They’re not…scared, per se. Maybe more worried? They want me to eat well and exercise but not too much and hover over me like I’m going to pass out at any moment. It’s not fear of pregnancy, as much so as it is fear of the unknown. They’ve never experienced it before.”

Phil considered that as they got into the car and stayed quiet most of the drive. He…had a point. Sure, Phil had real life experiences to back up his fear, but in reality wasn’t it all just fear of the unknown? Fear of not knowing how Clint or Tony’s pregnancy would go? Fear of losing the people he loved? By the time they got back to the tower his ears were flat to his head and he was barely resisting the urge to whine, wanting nothing more than to hold his mates. Before he and Howard separated in the living room, Howard heading up to shower and rest while Phil went to check on Tony and Clint in the lab, the rabbit placed a hand on his arm.

“Phil, I know we didn’t have the best start, and from what I’ve been told I’m not the pinnacle of fatherly perfection, but think about it, alright? It’s probably not my place, you barely know me, but I want Tony to be happy. He’s my child and I want what will make him happy. I think this will.”

Phil nodded numbly at the Leporidae’s words, watching silently as he bounded off, ears flopping happily as he chatted with JARVIS about where Steve and Bucky were. Turning on his heel, he made his way quickly down to the lab, striding in and seeing Tony and Clint curled up in some sort of massive plush thing Tony had built/bought. Smiling softly at the sight of his sleeping Gatti, Phil toed off his shoes, slipping off his jacket before climbing in, taking care to not jostle the younger Felidae.

Once he had settled himself next to the two, he couldn’t help but bury his face into Clint’s throat, purring softly. There was a low scent in the air, sweet and savory on the back of his tongue, heralding Clint’s next heat coming on in the next few days. The archer made a soft noise and shifted, turning towards him and smiling softly.

“Phil.” He purred, moving a hand to stroke down Phil’s side, hooking two fingers in Phil’s belt loop.

The older Felidae moved up for a kiss, growling into Clint’s mouth when the lynx bit playfully at his bottom lip.

“You’re so close to your heat.” Phil ground out, sinking the fingers of one hand into Clint’s hair to tug at his ears.

Clint moaned out an affirmative that Tony echoed, coming awake and nuzzling into the other side of the kitten’s neck. Phil grinned at the sight of Tony’s tail swishing predatorily, pulling back to watch with amusement as the tiger pounced and pinned their Gatto, biting in his throat and rolling their hips together. Just as he was about to reach into the fray and guide his older lover into a kiss as well his phone rang, Tony and Clint separating to shoot him equally disappointed looks. Phil fished it from his pocket and sighed at the name on the display, mouthing to the two that he would be right back as he climbed from the nest they’d built.

“Director Fury.”

“Coulson. We’ve got a mission I need you on.”

“Sir,” Phil shot a look backwards at the nest and bit back a moan, seeing Tony sprawled between Clint’s legs, slowly licking up and down his cock as the kitten mewled and thrashed. “Clint’s going into heat soon, I don’t really want to be away.”

Fury cursed low on the other line and snarled for a moment before his voice softened, more the Marcus that he remembered.

“Look, Cheese, I’m sorry. If there were any other fucking way, you know I wouldn’t have you go. But I need my best agent on this.”

Phil ran a hand through his hair and sighed, steadily keeping his eyes away as Clint moaned behind him, Tony’s low growl echoing the noise. He bit his lip and decided to duck into the bathroom at the slap of skin on skin that heralded just what the two were doing, keeping himself away from the temptation to just drop the phone and go lick Tony open to take his place alongside them.

“Alright, alright. If you were anyone else, Marcus—“

“You’d tell me to go fuck myself and roll around in the sheets with your Gatti, I know. You guys ship out tomorrow, mission time unknown.”

“Parameters?” Phil asked, sagging against the sink and trying to flatten his ears in an attempt to block out the low noises filtering in.

“Lensherr and Xavier have developed a new sort of serum, something that will allow for, or so they claim, a much higher fertilization likelihood.”

“I didn’t think those two had any interest in having pups.”

“Apparently while they don’t, a close friend of theirs does. You remember the mutant named Raven?”

“Yeah, a Felidae shifter. It makes sense she would have trouble conceiving. So SHIELD is being sent to…what exactly?”

“At this point just making sure they don’t invent something that’s going to fuck up the planet. I want you because if anything’s gonna go wrong, you’re gonna be the one to figure out what it will be.”

Phil couldn’t fault that logic. He’d gotten incredibly good at spotting pregnancy complications over the years, possibly because he was constantly waiting for something to happen. He scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed, thinking of all he’d have to do to get ready tonight.

“Alright. I’ll be there, what time tomorrow?”

“0700 sharp. And Cheese, I am sorry.”

Goddamnit, that left Phil with about fifteen hours to get things in shape and spend time with his lovers before shipping off for god knows how long.

“Fine, fine. I’ll be there. Goodbye.”

He cut the phone call after Fury’s goodbye, shoving the phone into his pocket and scrubbing both hands over his face. This was why he considered leaving SHIELD sometimes. He loved Marcus, loved his job, loved the satisfaction of knowing he was still doing good after he was out of Special Ops, but sometimes, like these, it smashed his personal life into pieces and left him scrambling. Tony had offered numerous times for Phil to just live with him, he had enough money even if everyone in the tower spent exorbitantly they wouldn’t be able to spend it all, and yet he constantly refused.

He wanted to help people, that’s why he put the suit on every morning. That’s why he would go on this mission, if only to do what he had set out to do as a child. Phil calmed himself down for a moment before stepping back out into the room, inhaling the scent of sex and pheromones that filled their air, licking his lips. Making his way back to the nest, Phil grinned at the sight of Clint riding Tony, the kitten’s head thrown back as he rocked and bounced, Tony’s claws digging into his hips.

He paused at the edge of the bed to strip from his clothes, Tony’s amused voice reaching his ears amidst Clint’s whines and moans.

“Who was that, Felis?”

“Fury. I’m shipping out tomorrow for a mission. Which is why,” Phil climbed up onto the nest, moving behind Clint to suck a bruise into the kitten’s neck. “Tonight I intend to make you and Clint cum so hard, you won’t miss me too much while I’m gone.”

“N-Never…Always miss you.” Clint gasped out, twisting around to drag Phil into a kiss as Tony reached down to twine their fingers.

He pulled away when Clint’s motions quickened, the kitten working himself furiously on Tony’s cock, selfishly chasing his orgasm with the single minded intent that consistently amused Tony and Phil.

“He’s got a point,” Tony ground out, bucking his hips once, the shock of movement causing Clint to grit out a scream, painting Tony’s stomach with cum. The tiger swiped his hands through it before Clint buckled down over him, panting into his collarbone. He held the fingers out to Phil who neatly licked the liquid off, nipping at the end of Tony’s sensitive fingers and bringing a moan from the engineer.

“No amount of orgasms on this planet would be able to make us miss you less.” Tony said, pulling Phil down until they could kiss, Clint purring happily between them. “But you are more than welcome to try.”

***********************************

“I am terribly sorry; I know this is quite the inconvenience for you.”

Phil shook his head and swallowed the food in his mouth, wiping at his lips before smiling at the Leporidae across the table.

“Not at all, Professor Xavier. Why would you think that?”

“Phillip,” the Leporidae said, setting his drink back down and tapping his temple with a crooked smile. “Telepath, remember? Being away from a mate close to their heat, any mate really, but especially a Petro, is hard. Were it that Fury trusted us more, I feel your presence wouldn’t be necessary.”

Phil nodded and took a swallow of his own ice water, giving Charles a small smile. The man had seemed fidgety this whole conversation, Phil assumed now it was because he’d been looking for a delicate way to bring this up. Leporidae were honestly adorable designations, generally very proper and kind. It was still rare to meet one with as fantastic manners as the Professor, though Phil thought a part of that came from being raised in wealth.

“It is…unfortunate, indeed. But necessary. Besides,” Phil gestured to the beautiful scenery of the grounds outside Charles’ mansion. “I could think of worse places to be for a mission.”

The rabbit laughed softly, agreeing and starting back in on his meal. Phil watched him for a moment, amused at how Charles had pinned his own ears and hair back with a fedora. He’d seen Howard do the same thing occasionally and wondered if it was a product of a more wealthy upbringing. His thoughts were interrupted by the slam of a boot into the middle of their table, Phil reaching for his gun instantly as Charles shoved backwards and toppled over. He was on his feet and searching the area even as he crossed to where the rabbit was climbing to his feet. Phil opened his mouth to order that Charles get inside when the Leporidae sprung to his feet and grabbed hold of the black boot, shaking it furiously.

“MISTER WILSON, HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU?! IF I AM NOT RESPONDING TO YOUR QUESTIONS, IT IS BECAUSE I AM BUSY!”

Phil cocked his head and blinked at the sudden outburst, before leveling his gun at the figure that dropped down onto where he had once been sitting. The…Leporidae, it appeared, though he looked like a Pit or Rottweiler had gotten ahold of his ears, was dressed in a red and black field suit, weapons dripping from his form.

“I’m sorrrrrrryyyyy,” the rabbit whined, ears flattening to his head as he crossed his arms. “But I have questions and I need answers. I also need this food.”

Phil slowly holstered his gun as Charles threw the shoe at the rabbit who was now shoveling food into his face, settling across from him while shooting Phil an apologetic look.

“I do apologize, Agent Coulson. Might I introduce one Wade Wilson. He’s a mutant who occasionally drops by here, taking _full_ advantage of the open door policy. I’m surprised you two haven’t met, to be honest. He generally stays around New York.”

“I’ve met you!” Wade exclaimed, Phil taking a seat on Charles’ side of the table to best avoid any flying pieces of food. “You shot me in the ass!”

“That was you?!” Phil burst out, vaguely recalling Fury scrambling people because there was, as he claimed, ‘some freak show clinging to Parker’s window like a goddamn cat on drapes’.

Wade nodded happily, continuing to eat as Charles shook his head, looking towards Phil.

“Should I ask?”

“Mister Wilson and I were acquainted once, in New York, when SHIELD was called out because he was, for lack of a better descriptive term, straddling Peter Parker’s window in the middle of the night and whining at the boy. Neighbors were, understandably, frightened and the NYPD wanted him gone, quickly.”

“Which is totally unfair,” Wade cut in, stopping his incessant chewing for a minute to swallow down half of Phil’s drink. “All I wanted was to get fucked, I mean, Petey’s a hot little piece of ass, yknow? And I _totally_ saw that kitty in the apartment over getting screwed. Which, how do you people fuck?”

Phil blinked at the man’s erratic line of thinking. Then tilted his head at the question before looking to Charles.

“He’s not serious?”

“He’s…incredibly serious, I’m afraid. Best to answer his questions, rude and prying as they may be, because denying him generally leads to worse headaches.”

Phil rolled his eyes and turned back to the rabbit who was now resting his chin on his laced fingers, fluttering his eyelashes at Phil.

“We have barbs, much like a Canidae’s knot.”

“Does it hurt? Cuz I was hiding in this tree once and I saw these two cats fucking, I actually saw a _lot_ of fucking in fact. I feel like they should rename Central Park into ‘Come-Here-And-Fuck’ Park, but that’s not very family friendly. Neither were what these people were doing, though. This one Canidae, I swear, his cock was about—“

“Enough!” Phil snapped, holding up a hand just as Wade leaned back and began to separate his hands. “It doesn’t hurt, as we don’t have the ‘fishhook’ like barb our animal counterparts do.”

“A fish hook?” Wade crowed, settling forwards with wide eyes. “That must hurt like a bitch! In a way, it’s kinda funny though. When they pull out they’re kinda like ‘AND IM TAKING YOUR VAGINA WITH ME!’ Like it’s a divorce and they’re stomping out of the house in their slippers and nightgown all pissed. Which is totally rude of them. I feel like if you’re going to take someone’s vagina you should probably ask first.”

Phil dropped his head into his hands and made a mental promise to never again pop Tony in the back of the head when he rambled. He would be glad for his lover’s ramblings after moments with this maniac.

“What can I help you with, Mister Wilson?”

“How’s the experiment going?”

Charles arched a brow, folding his napkin over his plate and looking suspiciously at the other rabbit.

“Why are you curious?”

After the question slipped from his mouth Charles made a soft sound and winced, Wade’s eyes shuttering in response. Phil guessed the telepath must have read Wade’s mind and his hunch was confirmed when Charles strode around the table, sinking into the chair next to Wade and placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Wade. I…had assumed, but hearing it is…difficult.”

“Hey, no big right?” Wade laughed, a bit of mania in his voice as he tugged his boot from where it had landed on the table and started to pull it on. “I mean, who’d want me for a dad anyways? Plus, I’d have to find someone to mate with and that’s gonna be hard enough with my fucked up ears. But I’ll be a test subject if you get too excited and need failure to bring you down a few pegs. See ya!”

With that, he bounded off, disappearing behind some shrubbery and leaving Charles to sigh, turning back to Phil with a downtrodden expression.

“Should I ask?” Phil said, with a nod towards where the mutant had ran off.

“He’s…due to unfortunate circumstances, the same that did damage to Mister Wilsons’ ears and tail, he’s practically infertile. He has a very low chance of conceiving; it’s little wonder he wants this experiment to work.”

Phil went quiet at this, becoming aware, perhaps in that very moment, of what Tony and Clint must go through. They hid it much better, but the pain and sorrow in Wade’s eyes as he tried to joke off his agony cut him deeply. There were people out there who couldn’t conceive, even if this experiment worked they’d still be infertile, and he was denying Clint and Tony something so precious merely because of his fears?

“It’s not unfounded.” Charles said quietly, Phil glancing over at him with a small smile.

“It’s rude to read people’s minds without their permission, Professor.”

“Perhaps, but I understand better than you think. Your position at least. Eric is…terrified of me becoming pregnant, for much the same reasons you are, though he doesn’t have so many as you. Partly why I want this experiment to be a success is, yes, because of Raven, but also because I want Eric to have the same revelation you just did.”

“Give him time. If he’s anything like me, it’ll take a while.” Phil urged softly, Charles nodding and moving a bit closer to him.

Phil read the need in the Coniglio’s body language and reached an arm out, Charles snuggling under it instantly, tucking his head under Phil’s chin. He rested his chin on the telepath’s head, smiling at the thought of announcing his decision to Tony and Clint when he arrived back home.

Perhaps this mission, though it came at an inopportune time, would be the best thing that ever happened to him.

 


	10. Give It Up To Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint's heat hits unexpectedly, Tony makes a decision that may come back to bite him, and we get a little insight into Eric and Charles' relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter should literally be called "Fade to black" because I got through Clint's heat and lost my porn writing abilities and everything faded. Regardless I hope you enjoy it!

Clint made it a habit to be prepared for when his heats would hit. He usually could time them down to the hour, and made sure he was somewhere safe when they did finally come on. He got a lot better at timing them after he’d gotten caught up in a mission once and went into heat on the ride home. Coulson had fought off all the other Provectus assholes who’d tried to hop on him and locked him in a heat room, only coming in himself once Clint had told him to go find the paperwork he’d filled out that listed Phil as an acceptable Felis to claim him during a heat.

God, the memories of Phil ripping the door open and pinning him to the wall, growling in his ear how hot he was, how he was such a good Gatto, how he was going to take such good care of him made Clint shiver and shift in his seat. Pepper shot him an odd look from across the table, mimicking Bucky’s glance at his side and he shook his head, brushing off the small heat in his belly as aftereffects from the thoughts.

“Are you alright?” Pepper asked, ginger ears flicking gently above her head as she sniffed delicately at him.

“Oh, yeah, just sore after sparing. Barnes packs a punch.” Clint joked, shoving into Bucky and grinning when the collie grunted and shoved back with a grin.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be such a wimp.”

“Maybe someone should take sparring a little less seriously.”

“Maybe you two should stop shoving and eat in peace.” Pepper quipped, the two shooting apologetic looks at the Canidae before continuing to eat.

Clint’s first sign that something was off was the sudden inability to stop sniffing at Pepper’s scent, gently wafting across the table towards him. The Vizsla normally smelled good, a combination of Natasha’s scent and the perfume she favored, but suddenly Clint was swallowing back a mouthful of drool at the sweet smell. He shifted in his chair, looking down at his lap with a shocked expression when his cock stiffened at the shift of fabric over it. What in the hell was going on?

The twinge in his abdomen was the answer as his hole suddenly grew slick, his heat coming on strong. Clint cursed as Pepper and Bucky’s heads whipped around, both of them baring their teeth as the other designations milling around the cafeteria did the same. Damnit, he thought he’d had another couple of hours, at least. Then again, Bruce had said something a few days ago about a theory that constant exposure to a pregnant designation could change one’s hormones slightly.

Bucky leapt from his seat, snarling at the others who were moving close, just as Clint’s first wave really hit and he moaned, head dropping onto the table. A slight jerk on the sleeve of his shirt had him looking up to see Pepper standing next to him, a slightly panicked look in her eyes.

“Clint, up. Come on, we have to get you somewhere, fast.” She said urgently and he nodded, shoving himself to his feet.

Pepper led him from the room, snarling at anyone who got too close. Clint sagged against the Canidae when Fury burst into the room, his scent nearly sending Clint to his knees. God, he smelled so good. Just like Phil, but with something darker underneath it. Something more wild.

“Goddamnit, Barton. Get him to the heat-rooms, Miss Potts. Quartermain will show you the way.”

Clint looked up as Pepper ushered him out of the room, the doors to the cafeteria slamming shut behind them, to see Clay standing there, rolling his shoulders uncomfortably and looking anywhere _but_ at Clint.

“C’mon. We gotta move fast.” He said, palming his gun and striding off at a brisk pace.

Clint wanted to cry at the feeling of his shorts rubbing over his hard cock as they made their way down to the heat rooms on the lower level. He barely registered Pepper calling Tony to his side, explaining the situation, until she was pressing the phone to the side of his face, Clint grabbing for it instinctively.

“Hello?”

“Clint, baby, I’m on the way, alright? I thought we had a couple more hours, I should have kept better track.”

“Me too. Tony, want you so bad. Want you to fuck me, wanna feel you cum all over me.” Clint whimpered, Clay making a rough sound in front of him as they stopped in front of the massive steel door of a heat room.

“Get him in there.” The Vulpae said, ripping the door open.

Pepper all but shoved him in, following quickly behind him. Quartermain shut the door firmly behind them but it was a distant sound as Clint focused on Tony’s voice in his ear, blindly going towards the massive bed in the center of the room.

“Gonna, Gatto. Gonna mark you up, show everyone you’re mine. Gonna fuck you like the good little slut kitten you are. God, just hearing you talk is getting me hard, darling.”

“Want you hard,” Clint whimpered into the phone, too far gone too quickly to care about saying all this stuff in front of Pepper who was doing her level best to not stare as he writhed on the sheets. “We gonna…we gonna do what you talked about?”

There was a pause before Tony spoke again, the background distortion that always happened when he was in the suit gone.

“Yeah, we are. You want a kitten and I want to give you one. I’ll deal with Phil later. For now, I’m gonna knock my little kitten up, get all my cum inside him.”

Clint whine at the promises, his stomach panging in want for a child inside him. Tony and he had agreed, when Tony found out Howard was pregnant, that come Clint’s next heat, Tony would breed him. Regardless of Phil’s feelings, as much as they loved their Felis, they both wanted a baby. And if Phil’s fear was because of his bloodline, they’d remove that from the equation. Yes, Phil would be mad, but hopefully seeing how happy Tony and Clint were about the pregnancy would change that.

Clint had gone off his birth control that night, possibly another reason why his heat came in quicker than before. It seemed stronger now, the waves of need and desire that made him shudder and cry out, Tony babbling soothing things in his ear.

“I’m coming, alright? Let me get through security, and I’ll be there. I gotta go, darling, just hang on for me, okay? Be a good kitten.” Tony said quickly, Clint agreeing before hanging up, fighting back the urge to whine and cry at the disconnect from his Felis.

Pepper settled onto the bed next to him and he instantly curled around her body, burying his face in her hip as she stroked gentle fingers through his hair.

“Shh, it’s alright, Clint. Tony’s gonna be here soon.” She murmured quietly and Clint nodded, face heating when he realized, to his horror, he was rocking his hips against her side, basically humping her.

“Sorry.” He gasped out, trying and failing to stop the movements, Pepper smiling down at him indulgently.

“It’s alright. As long as you don’t cum, Tony won’t be too mad.”

“Kiss me?” Clint whined up at her, needing to be close to someone, even if it wasn’t his Felis, wasn’t even his designation.

Pepper nodded with a soft tilt to her lips, leaning down and letting Clint pull her into a kiss. He moaned at the taste of her, stronger than her scent, and shifted up onto an elbow to get a better angle, tracing her smooth ears. Pepper laughed into his mouth at his exuberance, no doubt sympathetic to what it was like, and ran gentle fingers down his chest, stopping to thumb at one nipple gently. Clint gasped at the feeling and moaned against her lips, arching his back to get more of the addicting sensations, even as his mind hissed and snarled that the sensations wasn’t what he needed, that he needed to be filled.

“I owe you head.” He ground out in between kisses, realizing how hard this must be by the tension in Pepper’s shoulders.

Heat affected other Petros as well, not just the more dominant of the designations. Pepper had to be horny as hell just from the scent, and yet wasn’t making any motions to leave until she was sure someone was here to take care of him.

The Vizsla laughed and tweaked the tip of one ear gently, voice a bit more ragged when she spoke, though Clint wasn’t sure if it was the hormones or the kisses that had her so vamped.

“Remember the last time you promised me that and it turned into everyone screwing in the middle of the living room?”

Clint whined at the memories, thinking back to when Pepper had saved his ass from the police when he’d broken part of a monument by citing how dangerous and unstable it had been, the officials charging him dropping the case instantly. He’d went to Natasha, done everything right, but the sight of him sprawled between her legs as she sat on the couch in the living room had brought everyone out, and by the time Natasha had gently yanked him back to finish her mate off, everyone had been fucking.

“Gotta do that again.” He moaned out, just as the door flung open and Tony marched inside, a short hiss escaping before he cut it off.

“Sorry.” He snarled out to Pepper, as the Canidae shifted away, striding up to him.

“I know how mates get. Be good to him.” She said gently, brushing a kiss against Tony’s cheek that settled his lashing tail and exiting the room, no doubt to go hunt down her own mate.

Tony came after him, the first brush of his hands down Clint’s spine as he tugged him up into a kiss dragging a moan from his mouth. Clint grabbed and tugged greedily at Tony’s shirt and belt, stripping him quickly. Tony moved much slower, by the time Clint was naked he had touched and kissed almost every inch of him, leaving Clint a writhing mess on the bed.

“T-Tony, please!” Clint whined, bucking his hips up as Tony brushed a kiss against the inside of one thigh. “Mount me, breed me, god just…just get inside me!”

“Aw, I got’cha, Clinty-cat. Relax for me.” Tony coaxed his thighs open a bit further and stroked a hand up one until Clint felt him sink two fingers inside.

He arched and moaned at the pressure, bucking against his mate’s hand. It was amazing, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted to be stretched out around Tony’s barb, feel all that hot cum pouring into him.

“M-More! Tony, please!” He cried out, whimpering when actual tears of frustration formed in his eyes, blurring his vision.

Tony reared up and kissed his flaming cheeks, murmuring softly to him.

“Oh god, you are desperate. So wet for it. Don’t cry, kitten. I’m gonna give you what you need. Give you everything.”

Clint sobbed in response, everything overwhelming. The only reason he could think of was because Phil wasn’t here, wasn’t here to calm them down with his aged Felis scent, to purr orders and ensure everyone was taken care of. He cried out when Tony slowly slid inside, taking his time and being incredibly gentle. Clint buried his head in the bed, ears flattening as Tony ran a slow hand over his tail, his body instinctively shoving backwards against his mate.

“So good, Gatto. So goddamn good on my cock.” Tony murmured, fucking him in sharp, hard thrusts that had Clint twisting bedsheets in his fists and crying out at every movement.

He couldn’t help but miss Phil, even with Tony’s cock hitting every spot he needed it to, and, to his horror, Clint felt tears start to streak down his cheeks. He hid it as best he could, burying his face, but when Tony reached up to cup his jaw and turn him for a kiss, the tiger knew exactly what was going on.

“Clinty-cat.” Tony whined, pulling out and ignoring Clint’s cry at the loss to turn him around and pull him into his arms. “Darling, what’s wrong?”

“P-Ph-Phil.” Clint managed to choke out, everything from his body’s reactions to his emotions more exaggerated during this heat, threatening to completely drown him.

Tony was silent for a moment before giving him a short kiss and getting off the bed, striding over to the screen on the wall. He typed in a few commands, doing some of his computer magic, as Clint fisted his cock, pumping it quickly even though he knew without a barb he wasn’t going to cum any time soon. He felt so empty, so hollow without Tony’s cock fucking him, but just as he was about to open his mouth and beg his Felis back to bed, the screen changed and Phil appeared on it.

“Phil!” Clint whined, pushing himself to his knees. He didn’t go any further than that, not sure his legs would even support him if he stood.

The jaguar smiled at him, a little bit too much tooth showing, though Clint assumed that was because he probably looked like one of the slutty Gatto’s on porn covers.

“Gatto, darling, calm down.”

Just like that, everything dampened, a filter sliding into place that took Clint back to a normal heat mentality. He still wanted Tony to fuck him, but the desperation he’d felt moments ago when he was sobbing into the pillows wasn’t there. Tony crossed back to the bed with a grin, maneuvering Clint until the lynx was perched on his lap, still facing Phil with his legs draped on either side of Tony’s.

“You always know exactly what I need.” Clint murmured, grinding back against Tony’s cock, drawing a deep hiss from his Felis at the pressure.

“Mmmm, it’s my job. Now let’s put on a show for our Felis, yeah?”

Clint nodded and shifted forwards, bracing himself on Tony’s knees until he felt the head of the tiger’s cock brush his hole. He sank backwards with a groan at the penetration, widening his knees so Phil could clearly see. The agent snarled low, his hand disappearing down out of frame.

“Ride his cock,” Phil rumbled, the movements of his arm letting Clint know exactly what he was doing. “Let me see you take what you want, Gatto.”

As if spurred by his command alone, Clint’s hips began to roll and buck, his body pulling from Tony’s before slamming backwards. The tiger rolled his head against Clint’s shoulder, biting small marks into his flesh as his hands dug into Clint’s hips, yanking him back with every thrust. Before long, Clint had his legs folded under him, hands braced on Tony’s knees as he shoved himself backwards harder and harder, sobbing at the feeling of Tony splitting him open.

“Feel good, Clint?”

“God, yes.” He gasped out in response, Phil making a low sound at the tone. “Feels so fucking big. Tony, Tony, w-want your barb.”

“I’m so fucking close. Come on, Clint, work that tight little ass for me. Make me cum.” Tony growled out, Clint doubling his motions at the words.

“Stroke his cock, Tony. Get him there.” Phil commanded, voice tight.

When Tony complied, Clint let his head fall forwards, jerking it back up at Phil’s snarled ‘eye’s on **me** , Gatto.’ He met his Felis’ gaze evenly, keeping it by sheer determination alone as Tony twisted his hand at the head, shoving Clint into an orgasm that had him screaming, tears of a different kind streaking down his cheeks. Just as Phil arched and made that same low hiss that meant he was orgasming, Tony bit down hard on his shoulder, shoving his barb inside and locking in. Clint moaned at the feeling of being filled with Tony’s cum, the moment made even hotter by the fact that, at this very moment, Tony was breeding him.

He collapsed forwards, whining at the tug on Tony’s barb as he draped himself across Tony’s thighs, panting in the aftermath. Clint heard Phil rustling around on the screen and made himself lift his head, looking at the man who had already cleaned up and was looking at his phone.

“Son of a bitch. I’ve got to go. They want me down there to run some tests.” Phil looked back up and gave them both a warm smile. “I love the both of you and when I get home, I’m going to show you both just how much.”

Clint smiled and returned the sentiment, Tony echoing it before Phil cut the connection, the screen going dark once more. He relaxed for the duration of the tie, letting Tony pull him around once he’d un-barbed and cuddle him close. Clint brushed a kiss against Tony’s throat, gnawing playfully as he stretched, feeling the next heat wave slowly rolling in.

“Think I’m pregnant yet?” He groaned out, humping against Tony’s thigh when the wave crashed down, his hole slicking further.

“I don’t know,” Tony murmured, rolling until he was perched between Clint’s thighs, licking at his bite and growling the promise into his skin. “But by the time I’m done, you will be for sure.”

*****************************************

“Ugh, I’m done being pregnant.”

Bucky huffed against his mate’s stomach, smiling into the skin and leaving one more kiss against the bulge before moving up to capture Howard’s mouth.

“You were _so_ desperate to be bred, and now you wanna go back on it?”

Howard sighed and shifted on the bed, Bucky shooting Steve, who was coming out of the bathroom with a jar in his hands, an amused look.

“I’m not going back on it, I just wish sometimes we could have normal pregnancies. You know, I heard back before the designations appeared there were these things called ‘humans’. They didn’t have our instincts or tails or ears, and they had a gestational period of _nine months_! How nice would that be?”

Bucky rolled his eyes and shifted up to lay next to his mate, placing his hand over Howard’s already large stomach. He could understand the frustration, he’d heard many women complain about how hard it was to get rid of the stretch marks. It was apparently really bad if they were having a rabbit, as normal gestation for them was about two months. As it was, Howard being a month along and blowing up like a balloon, they had been able to test the baby and it had read Canidae.

And hadn’t that tickled Steve and Bucky to death.

“Maybe nice, but you’d also be big for longer.” Steve reminded Howard gently, scooping out some of the thick cream Bruce and Thor had brought back from Asgard, claiming it was what the females there used to rid themselves of the stretch marks of pregnancy.

Howard made an irritated noise followed swiftly by a luxurious groan as Steve started to smooth to cream onto his stomach, massaging gently. He huffed and reached for his phone when it went off, bringing it close to his face. Bucky leaned in to nuzzle at his throat, glancing at the phone out of the corner of his eye.

“Tony’s having issues?” He asked, only getting the barest glance at the sender before Howard tilted the phone away and flicked his ears with a huff.

“Don’t look over my shoulder, you know I hate that.” He grumbled, full attention now on texting back his son.

Bucky shared a look with Steve before sliding his hand over Howard’s now slick stomach, making his way until he could trace gently around the edge of Howard’s hole. The rabbit made a surprised chirp and startled, the phone falling from his hands and smacking him in his face. Bucky couldn’t help but laugh at the thunderous expression on Howard’s face as he growled and smacked at Bucky. The collie shifted to make sure Howard wasn’t smacking at his bionic arm–Steve had complained a couple of times about how much that stung to hit—and let the rabbit curse and growl at him as Steve cleaned his hands off, shaking his head at them.

Their Canem captured Howard’s hands, leaning down over him to steal a deep kiss, Howard giving up his struggles instantly to whine into Steve’s mouth. Bucky nuzzled into his throat, sliding a hand down once more to get something started when Howard pulled away, shoving at them both until he could wriggle his way off the bed. Steve collapsed next to Bucky, giving him a soft kiss before they both were distracted by the twitch of Howard’s tail as he made his way to the dresser and started to fish out clothes.

Bucky was adoring Howard’s taking advantage of the fact that they finally had privacy now to spend minutes and even hours wandering around naked after a shower. Steve hadn’t quite picked up the habit yet, but Bucky was working on it. The retriever in question wagged his tail happily, watching Howard dress, making a happy whine that Bucky echoed at the sight of their Coniglio pulling on one of Steve’s shirts and resting his hands on his belly once he had, smiling down at it.

“Where’s the fire, Howie?” Steve asked, propping himself up onto his forearms as Howard yanked on some of Bucky’s work-out shorts, making his way back to the bed.

“Well, Tony said he had something he wanted to tell me. It sounded urgent so I’m going to head down and see.”

Bucky frowned and shoved up into a sitting position, ears flattening. Urgent was not good news, ever, and Howard was his pregnant mate. Every warning bell in Bucky’s head was going off, Steve’s too by the look on his face as he settled next to Bucky.

“Should we go with you?” Their Canem asked, Howard chuckled and shaking his head as he ran his hands through his hair, styling it quickly.

Bucky bit back a laugh despite the situation at how Howard’s hair settled so nicely but his ears still had random cowlicks everywhere that Howard could never get to style unless he used product.

“I’ll be fine. It’s probably just something in the lab. Be back soon!” Howard said, exiting with a jaunty wave.

Bucky sighed at their Coniglio’s happy nature, Steve’s expression saying he was just as exasperated with Howard.

“He’s reckless.” Steve murmured, relaxing back down onto the bed and gesturing for Bucky to lay with him.

The collie eased down until he was laying with his head on Steve’s chest, drawing patterns on his stomach.

“He’s Howard. Did you really expect him to be different?”

“Not really.” Steve laughed, pulling at him until Bucky was straddling his waist, grinning down at him.

“Can I help you, Captain?”

“Oh, you know,” Steve said, stroking hands up and down his sides with a grin. “Just looking for a way to kill time.”

“I’ll give you a way.” Bucky murmured, leaning down to capture his mate’s grinning mouth in a hot kiss.

********************************

“You needed me?”

Tony looked up at his father’s voice, setting down the medical texts he was perusing and nodding, gesturing towards the couch set up in the corner. Howard made his way over, one hand on his stomach as he went. Tony bit back a grin at the bulge of his stomach. After the initial shock and ‘it’s not **fair** ’ tantrum of finding out Howard was pregnant, Tony had grown rather attached to the idea of having a little sibling. It also gave him and his dad something else to bond over.

Howard had been understandably horrified when Tony told him about their relationship in this timeline and had since worked twice as hard to give them the true relationship a normal rabbit has with its children. It was….nice, at times, to have Howard absently smooth down his hair or fix his tie. Nice but strange.

Which was exactly what Tony needed right now.

He made his way over to the couch and settled next to his dad, giving into the man’s look and gesture and laying his head on Howard’s lap. Tony grinned at the feeling of his dad’s stomach much closer to his face than it had been before, nuzzling it softly as he mused that in another week Howard would be too big for them to do this any longer.

“What’s going on, Tony?” Howard asked, smoothing a hand through his hair and brushing over his ears lightly.

The rhythmic motion of his hand guided Tony out of the anxiety he’d had since Clint had come to him with the positive pregnancy test two days ago and the sheer panic when Phil had called yesterday and said he’d be home within the week.

“Clint’s pregnant.”

“Tony! That’s fantastic!” Howard cried, Tony smiling despite himself as Howard yanked him up so he could hug him tightly.

His dad drew back and gave him a critical look after a moment.

“Why don’t you look happy?”

“I am! I’m fucking ecstatic! I just—“ Tony shoved a hand through his hair in frustration, tail lashing behind him. “Phil. It’s Phil.”

“Ah.” Howard nodded with a look of understanding, leaning back to let Tony resume his position on his lap.

“I just—I wanted my Gatto happy! That’s fair, right? But Phil is so against the idea and when he gets home he’s going to _know_ , because Phil always knows, and I don’t want that fight! I don’t want my Felis pissed at me because I did something for our mate, yknow?”

“I understand.” Howard said with a low sigh, ears twitching as he went quiet for a moment before speaking. “I feel like you should be upfront with him. Yes, it may wind up in a screaming match, but Phil will understand, I think. Every mate just wants the best for their lovers, and I think Phil is reasonable enough that even though this is…a sensitive issue for him, he’ll understand why you did it.”

Tony groaned at the possibilities of how Phil would react, turning to bury his face in Howard’s stomach and speaking against the material of his shirt.

“Don’ wanna fight with my Felis.”

Howard laughed and tweaked one ear softly, Tony looking up at him.

“Do you know how many times Bucky and Steve have gotten into fights? Sometimes really bad ones? I’ve had to strip down naked to stop them from screaming at each other over reckless behavior.”

“Seriously? They both seemed so…right for each other.”

“And they are.” Howard said with soft eyes, letting Tony sit up next to him. “But even the best mates will fight over some things. I personally think if you’ve got a relationship where you _never_ fight, something’s wrong.”

Tony chuckled and nodded in agreement, settling back into the couch with a sigh.

“I just don’t want him to re-act badly to the idea.”

“I don’t really see how anyone could react all that badly, to be honest.”

************************************

“YOU WANT WHAT?!”

Charles’ ears twitched at Eric’s snarl, watching with narrowed eyes as the Shepard began to pace the length of their bedroom angrily, tail twitching and ears flattened. Any other rabbit would have cowered, but Charles wasn’t deterred by his mate’s reaction, repeating himself with the same even tone.

“If this experiment is a success, I want to try for a child on my next heat.”

“Absolutely not!” Eric snapped, coming to a stop in front of where Charles was perched on the side of their bed, hands on his hips. “Have you any idea the complications of mutant pregnancy?”

Charles glanced pointedly at his genetics degree on the wall over their dresser, Eric making a noise low in his throat.

“I have a good idea, Eric. Regardless of that, I still want to try.”

“Nein!” Eric growled, his accent thickening with his anger. “I will **not** have you risk your life to bear children!”

Charles sighed and flopped onto his stomach, laying his ears back. Generally Charles would fight and snarl to get his way, but in this situation he felt the silent treatment would work better. Sure enough, after a moment he felt Eric settle atop him, keeping his weight up on his forearms and brushed a soft kiss against Charles neck, nosing his hair out of the way.

“Hascha, understand my position in this. You are my life, my world, my very heart. Losing you would destroy me.” Eric murmured in his ear, biting down gently on the tip and sending shivers down Charles’ spine.

“You can’t guarantee anything would happen!” Charles argued, futilely struggling under his mate’s weight and gasping when Eric lowered his hips, rolling a thick erections against his ass.

“And you cannot guarantee for your safety.”

“Will you consider it? Phillip has reasons for not wanting children as well, yet he has changed his position and is going to acquiesce to his mates wishes when he returns home.”

“Then he is obviously not so torn on the matter.” Eric rumbled, Charles seeing red at the negative implication in his mate’s words and shoving at him mentally, the Canidae hissing at the sting and yanking away from him.

Charles turned under his mate, Eric frowning down at him and rubbing one hand against his temple.

“Eric Lensherr. Phillip Coulson is a fantastic individual and he has suffered things that make this decision to go ahead with the pregnancies an amazingly hard choice for him. Don’t you _dare_ belittle his suffering in such a way!”

His mate hunched under the force of his words before growling and tackling him back onto the bed, nipping at his throat. Charles gasped under the sudden onslaught, his breath catching in a moan when Eric reached up to rub one of his ears between his fingers.

“Hascha, have you any idea how hot it is to see you get worked up? See that my little Coniglio has claws after all?” Eric mumbled into his skin, nipping sharply and making a happy growl at the breaking of skin that heralded a drop of blood.

“Mmmm, show me just how much you like it.” Charles murmured, catching hold of Eric’s hair and pulling him into a kiss.

Charles knew they would revisit the topic later, and he would most certainly make Eric talk to Phillip in an attempt to convert his opinion. But for right now he had his mate atop him, a final test to run tomorrow that he was almost 99% sure would prove effective, and a hope for the future.

And that was more than enough for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hascha is a German endearment that's a mixture of schatz meaning treasure and hase meaning rabbit. So Charles is Eric's little treasured bunny :D


	11. You're Worthy. Oh, So Worthy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bruce and Thor celebrate their bonding, Bruce has issue, and Thor won't let anyone insult his mate. Not even his mate himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy god. I am so so sorry this took so long guys! And this chapter was supposed to be Phil's homecoming but Clint Barton is a hormonal pregnant asshat and won't write correctly. So next chapter! In the meantime, enjoy some Bruce and Thor!
> 
> **********WARNING************: In the sex scene, Bruce thinks himself unworthy and doesn't want Thor around, doesn't think he should be. I didn't label it dub-con because he wants the sex, just doesn't think he's worth it. If you think I need to stick a dub-con label on it PLEASE let me know and I will be happy to do so :D ALSO! Loki is not great in this, he's still in a bad headspace and while he's on his way to recovery (and we'll check in on that a few chapters in) he's still bitter and angry so if you aren't happy with him portrayed in a negative fashion, feel free to skip over his bit, it won't change the story much.

Pit Bulls are not social creatures. Not by any sort of definition. They love their packs, don’t misunderstand, but outside that pack they don’t like big parties or social gatherings. It creates a mix of emotions, ranging from anxiety and fear to excitement and happiness.

Bruce Banner does not do well with mixes of emotions.

Bruce Banner is also shit at telling his mate no.

“You seem tense, Healer. Is everything alright?”

Bruce jumped slightly at the clap of a meaty hand on his shoulder, glancing over to where the large redhead—Vol..something….Stagg! Volstagg! Asgardian names were sometimes more complicated than chemical formulas—was looking at him expectantly, gigantic red ears practically wriggling atop his head to match his wide grin. He smiled weakly at him, resisting the urge to shrug the hand off and nodded dumbly.

“Yes, yes, everything’s fine. Just…not used to this sort of thing.”

“A bonding celebration on Asgard is always a festival to look forward to; the ceremony of a prince something the likes of which you’ll never see again!” Fandral proclaimed, leaning heavily on the table across from him and shooting Bruce a grin.

Bruce fought the urge to lean back from the…fox, he assumed, and laid his ears low, biting back a whine and looking around desperately for Thor. He spotted him chatting with a few people he hadn’t met yet across the massive throne room and mumbled some excuses for leaving, levering himself out of the chair and dutifully ignoring the good natured chuckles about bonded couples being so needy of each other’s presence. Bruce had gotten halfway across the room when a gentle touch to his elbow had him gritting his teeth to stop a snarl, whipping around to see Thor’s mother—oh, god, don’t growl at your future mother-in-law, Banner, come **on** —smiling serenely at him.

“Healer, if I may have a moment of your time? Privately?”

He nodded, mouth opening before he realized he had no idea what the hell to say, and closing it, following closely after her as she led him from the room and down a long hall. Bruce stayed quiet as they continued on until they were on some sort of ornate balcony, Frigga’s silky tail flipping gently in the slight breeze. He regarded her as they stood there in the silence, marveling in the beauty of her species. He’d seen gorgeous Felidae before—one particularly beautiful Egyptian girl with bright blue eyes and dark curls had taken his breath for a long moment on first glimpse—but there was something ethereal about Frigga’s blonde and grey ears and tail, as if they wouldn’t be quite solid when you touched them.

“How are you enjoying your bonding celebration?”

Bruce glanced over, prepared to give her a generic answer of thanks, if only to keep the peace, when the look in her steely blue eyes had him switching gears abruptly.

“If I’m being honest, it all seems a bit…excessive. On Earth—Midgard—we don’t generally have such large celebrations for bondings. We celebrate but not to this…er…magnitude.”

She laughed, a low, throaty sound that reminded Bruce of the few times his own mother would laugh, and created a sweet ache in his chest.

“I can certainly understand your discomfort then, Healer. Please do not worry about satisfying us, or making a good impression. This is your party, in your honor, and you shouldn’t feel unhappy during it.”

“It’s not unhappiness!” Bruce quickly corrected, waving a hand in the air between them before shoving it through his hair, ears flattening at the motion. “I’m just…not used to being in large crowds like this. It makes me…edgy.”

“Ah,” Frigga nodded in understanding, tail flicking back and forth serenely behind her. “Thor has informed us of your…reaction to stress and discomfort. I can assure you, if it is a concern, that your other personality would be welcome here as well.”

Bruce laughed nervously, tugging his glasses from his face and pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to figure out a way to steer the conversation to a different topic. Luckily for him, Frigga was queen for a reason, and gently leaned on the bannister, glancing out at the world sprawling before them as she diplomatically changed the subject.

“I cannot help but notice, and feel free to tell me if I am overstepping Midgardian proprietary boundaries, that you bear my son’s bonding mark and yet Thor’s throat is…barren.”

He slipped his glasses back on and instinctively ran a hand over Thor’s mark, the off-both-shoulders ceremonial tunic they’d given him proudly baring it for all eyes. It throbbed deliciously under the pressure of his hand, bringing to mind their intense lovemaking the night before.

He considered, for a moment, telling her that she was overstepping bounds and politely avoiding the topic all together, but there was no scorn or judgment in her voice, simply curiosity.

And at least she had outright asked instead of glancing at him and whispering to her cohorts like many of the others at the celebration had.

“It’s….complicated. Canidae on Midgard are varied in their species, much like you have here. However, certain designations of Canidae, like me and a few others I know, have a particularly…violent bite. My jaw, if I bite down like I would for a bonding mark, will lock, and it won’t **un** lock for a long while. This can cause massive amounts of damage to their mates and I don’t want to put Thor through that.”

“Think you my son weak?” She asked gently, reaching out to lay a hand on his arm, voice once again curious instead of offended or irritated.

“Not at all.” Bruce took a chance and laid a hand atop hers, letting out a small sigh at the warmth of her body. “Your son is one of the most powerful, brave, and loyal men I’ve ever met. I just…I don’t want to ever see him hurt by me, even if it’s only something small. And biting like that, with how my jaw works, would mean he would lose a lot of blood and be in, potentially, a lot of pain. I don’t want that.”

Frigga smiled at him suddenly, reaching a hand up to tug him in close and press a gentle kiss to his cheek. The motion had Bruce babbling for words, a flush working its way across his cheeks. She pulled back before he could formulate a respond, patting his arm.

“You are truly worthy of my son’s love. I am proud to call you a part of my family.”

With those words, she strode off, her dress and tail swishing behind her as she slowly made her way back to the party. Bruce sagged back against the bannister, breathing out slowly and trying to clear the flush from his cheeks by sheer force of will. He had almost accomplished it when a scoff had him spinning in place, heart sinking when he saw the Felidae lounging on bannister lazily, just out of arm’s reach.

“Loki. I didn’t think they’d let you out of the cage for ages.”

The black cat’s ears perked up as his mouth curled into a slow smile, tail a consistent metronome over the edge, legs neatly crossed in front of him.

“Even the criminals are released to celebrate. Besides, my dear _parents_ ,” Loki hissed the word, baring his teeth like his animal counterpart. “Thought I should be present for my only brother’s bonding celebration. To wish happiness on the mated couple. And I shall. I bring you glad tidings, Doctor Banner. And wishes of luck.”

“Luck?” Bruce growled, everything in him demanding he charge the god, the Other Guy snarling and screaming right below the surface, edging so close Bruce’s vision was starting to turn green.

Loki’s smile was dark and malicious, reminiscent of the smile he’d worn in the cage on the Helicarrier before all hell broke loose.

“Oh, yes, much luck indeed. You’ll need it after all.” Loki slunk down from his perch, striding towards Bruce with the same easy, rolling gait Tony used to stalk after Dummy when the robot screwed something up in the lab.

He leaned in close to Bruce’s ear, breath fanning across his nape and tearing a snarl from his throat, Bruce’s ears flattening as he peeled his lips back to show his teeth.

“Luck is all that might save my dear _brother_ from death when you lock your teeth into his throat and bleed him dry.”

“ **Loki**!”

The Felidae screeched when a hard hand locked around his nape, ripping him away from Bruce’s now trembling form. Thor stepped between them, looking every bit the wrathful god the legends proclaimed him to be.

“You were given a chance and your malicious actions have ripped it from you. The guards will escort you back to your quarters.” Thor’s voice broke a small bit as he stared at the cat, who was now being forced back into cuffs by the guards that had come charging behind Thor. “I wish, brother, you had been kinder. I wanted you at this ceremony, to celebrate alongside our family—“

“ _Your_ family.” Loki snarled, shooting one last murderous glare at the both of them before he was roughly marched off by the guards.

Thor shook his head, ears flattened and hands on his hips as he watched them go, before turning back to Bruce. One look at his face had Thor rushing over to gather him up in his arms, pressing gentle kisses to his face and ears, murmuring sweet endearments.

“Kompis, please do not let his cruel words shift your view. I wish for your bite, but I realize you will give it in your own time. I do not fear it as you do, and I think the results will not be as bad as you—“

“No!” Bruce shoved against him, whining when Thor’s arms only hugged tighter in response. “Thor, let me go! He’s right—god, they’re all right, every single one of them—if I bite you, I’ll kill you! I’m dangerous. I shouldn’t be here, not with you, not with anyone, I—“

Thor shushed him quietly, humming quietly in his ears, his massive chest vibrating with the sounds.

“Listen to me, Kompis—Bruce.” He cupped Bruce’s face and brought it up so they could stare into each other’s eyes, Bruce biting back a gasp at the adoration present in the god’s gaze. “I love you. I will wear your bite as proudly as you wear mine. You are safe, here with me. You are mine, and I dare anyone to claim different. Even yourself.”

Bruce shook his head, mouth opening to protest when Thor growled into the air between them. The world spun suddenly when Thor hiked him up, throwing him over his shoulder like a Neanderthal and starting back towards the throne room.

“Th—Thor! Put me down. Now!”

“Nay, love. It is obvious you need your Canem to prove to you that you belong to me. That I adore you, even though you seem to be unable to love yourself.”

Bruce beat uselessly at his back, face flushing blood red as they strode past the throne room, the gathered Asgardians chuckling and catcalling when they caught sight of them. There was a flush running through his body, yet the Other Guy was oddly sedate, slumbering peacefully like he was totally okay with the treatment.

That made…well, two of them going by the way the caveman actions were thickening Bruce’s cock underneath the thin pants he was given.

“Thor, where in the hell are we going?” Bruce snapped out, fisting the back of Thor’s cape and tugging on it, the god merely chuckling in response, tail whipping up to smack Bruce in the face gently, leaving him sputtering.

“You shall see soon enough, tiny Healer. I shall claim you in the manner that befits a mate of Asgard’s prince.”

Bruce let his jaw hang open at the words, huffing when Thor hiked him higher on his shoulder, patting his ass condescendingly. He grinned when a thought crossed his mind, pushing his glasses up a little higher before reaching down to grab a handful of his mate’s ass, squeezing hard and chuckling at Thor’s surprised inhale. Thor’s resulting growl vibrated into Bruce’s chest, making him shiver at the feeling.

Bruce gasped out when Thor clapped a heavy hand onto his ass, the sting causing him to harden further and practically melt in his mate’s grasp. As they made their way through, Bruce tried to think of a way out of this. He wanted to make love to his mate, wanted to be with Thor forever, but he wasn’t safe around anyone. No matter how much the other Avengers teased and played around with him, he was still a time bomb and they knew it. There was still a note of wariness when he was around Howard, Steve and Bucky always shifting around nervously, and now around Clint as well, even though Tony was probably—next to Thor, of course—the most relaxed around him.

He knew he was a monster, had that fact driven into his head a couple thousand times over the years. It stung and it sucked, but he’d done this to himself and he deserved to be alone. He certainly didn’t deserve the love of a literal _god_ and the adoration that came from his people alongside that.

Bruce was interrupted from his thoughts when Thor abruptly flung him down, bracing himself for impact only to blink his eyes open when he landed on something as soft as cotton candy, covered by what felt like pure silk. He looked up at Thor who was looming between his sprawled thighs, looking down at him with a gaze that was particularly ravenous, curling heat low in his stomach.

“Where are we?” Bruce looked around at the room, opulence in every inch of it from the gold floor to the massive bed they were on to the—holy wow.

“Is that a real waterfall?”

Thor chuckled, no doubt at the wonder in his voice as he nodded, glancing over to the fall of water that led to an enormous pool, shimmering in the low light from the various candles spread around.

“Aye. This is my ceremonial bonding room. I built it as I have grown, preparing every inch of it so it would be worthy of my mate’s eyes. Worthy…of you.”

The softness in his voice had Bruce blushing, feeling completely out of control, out of character. Feeling utterly…cherished and loved. He turned his face away, feeling unworthy of even looking at such a loving individual.

A gentle hand caught his jaw and turned his face back, Thor coming down over him like a blanket of warmth, his preternatural body temperature not the only thing that had Bruce heating up. The press of his hard body was making Bruce ache in a completely different way, his hips arching into the weight. Thor chuckled at the motion, his other hand sliding down to cup Bruce’s hip, keeping his palm on the Canidae’s face as he nuzzled into his throat.

“Do not look away, Kompis. You _are_ worthy, you are _mine_ , and I shall prove that.”

“Am not.” Bruce mumbled quietly, Thor growling in his skin before biting down sharply, a gasp pushing out through Bruce’s lips to echo in the room around them.

Thor quickly stripped him from his clothes, sliding down between his legs to grasp his cock and pump it harshly, Bruce twisting and whining from the feeling. The god dipped his head to suck deep marks into the hollows of Bruce’s hips, the pit bull crying out at the wet suction so close to where he wanted it.

“Oh, god, Thor—I can’t…Feels too—“

“Not too much, darling. Not for you. You deserve all this and more, all the pleasure I am capable of giving.”

Bruce shoved himself up onto his forearms, looking down the length of his body just as Thor engulfed the head of his cock in soft, wet heat. He moaned and wriggled on the bed, caught between arching up into Thor’s mouth and pulling away, his own brain warring between giving into the pleasure and still feeling unworthy of it. Bruce’s mouth fell open as he panted for breath, Thor raking nails down his thighs, leaving stinging trails of red in the flesh and succeeding in causing Bruce to finally arch up into the slick suction.

Thor hummed happily as he stroked a slow palm over the marks, Bruce falling back down at the sheer pleasure racing through his body. A part of him still wanted to shove the Hundr away, to run from the kindness and love, but another part of him was reveling in it, in being treated well by someone who truly cared for him. He reached down and threaded careful hands through Thor’s hair, trying to avoid bending the massive ears that were twitching happily atop his head.

“Thor.” Bruce tugged a bit on the Canidae’s head to get him to look up and stop the slow sucks that were siphoning away his reason and higher thinking. “Thor, I…I don’t think I’m worthy of all this. Not of this room, not of the prince. I can’t…I can’t even give you my mark, it might kill you.”

Thor huffed and leaned up to capture his mouth in a gentle kiss, bracing himself next to Bruce’s hips as he coaxed his lips open with soft strokes of his tongue. He pulled back with a growl when Bruce refused to comply, the full view of his gorgeous mate rearing up to kiss him driving the point home of how beautiful Thor was and plain and scrawny Bruce looked in comparison.

If there was ever a time, as Thor looked deeply in his eyes, that Bruce wished for the Other Guy to come out so he had an excuse to wind up miles and miles away; it would be now.

“Kompis, please allow me this. Allow me to show you what I see when I look at you. And then make your decision upon your own worthiness.”

Bruce shakily nodded, hardly able to say no at the sight of Thor’s pouting face. The Aesir grinned and tugged him from the bed, shedding his clothes as he guided Bruce over to the massive pool of water. They sank deep within it, Bruce’s breath catching at the warmth of it. He expected cool, perhaps even cold, memories of hiding out behind waterfalls on Earth making him think differently. But everything, it appeared, was different here on Asgard.

In another life, in another time, Bruce would have reveled in the difference, in being in a world where the Other Guy and he were accepted as equals.

“Can you see, my love?”

Bruce looked over at Thor’s wave, turning in his arms and settling himself on his mate’s lap to glance at where the waterfall was reflecting them. It was a clearer picture than he expected, through Asgardian magic or just plain alien oddity, acting more like a mirror than the rush of water that it was. Bruce flushed at the sight they made, his pale and dark body against Thor’s golden frame. Thor bent his head to nuzzle at the bonding mark, the reflection coupled with the motion making Bruce shove backwards, grinding his ass into Thor’s thick cock.

“Mmmm, yes, just like that.” Thor growled out, sliding a hand down to fist his cock once more pumping lazily. “Keep your eyes on the water, Kompis. See the beauty in our union. See how _worthy_ you are of love.”

Bruce felt compelled by the demand, shoving his glasses up from where they’d slipped down, staring at the picture they made. He watched himself writhe against Thor, against the heavy hand wrapped around his cock, watched the flush spread across his cheeks as he panted for breath. Bruce’s eyes widened as his hole suddenly grew slick, mind racing.

He wasn’t due for a heat, not yet, not for another few weeks. Bruce opened his mouth to question but a moan slipped out instead when Thor pushed him forward in his lap and spread his thighs, Bruce’s legs hooking over them and spreading as well with the action. The Hundr slipped a hand down, two fingers sinking in gently, and Thor snarled in pleasure at the slick, nipping at Bruce’s shoulder.

“You are wet for me.”

“Y-Yes. But I shouldn’t be…I shouldn’t be in heat for _at least_ —“

“This is not Midgard, Kompis.” Thor admonished, twisting his fingers in a way that had Bruce arching and shoving back onto them, white hot pleasure wrapping around his spine. “This room is special. This water, even more so. The bonding chambers are _made_ so that the mate will be bred. This water will push you into a heat.”

Bruce gasped as the effects worked their way up to his body, the feeling wiping any thoughts of questioning the logics, the physics, of such a thing, replacing it with mind-numbing ecstasy. But one thought reigned supreme and he gasped it out on ragged breaths, watching himself buck between Thor’s hands in the waterfall.

“I can’t. Thor, it may not be safe. I can’t be bred.”

Thor made an annoyed noise against his throat but his head rose and he nodded, unwrapping the hand around Bruce’s cock to move some dials on the side of the pool. The water changed, something less bright and sparkling, though not any less clear or warm by any means. Bruce felt the effects of the heat wash away in waves, sinking back against Thor with a breath of relief. He wanted a pup, wanted one so badly, but with the radiation, it wasn’t certain as to whether he could even carry, let alone deliver a healthy child.

The reminder of yet _another_ shortcoming on his end, something else he couldn’t give to the Canidae who loved him so dearly, had Bruce bending over, cradling his face in his hands and biting back a sob.

Thor gently removed his fingers and pulled him in close, a hand coming up to guide Bruce’s palms down.

“Kompis, I care not. If we may never have a pup, if I can never breed you, I care not.”

“But you are a _prince_.” Bruce snapped, whipping around to stare at him through the slight sheen of tears. “You need an heir. And what kind of a mate am I that I can’t even give you that? No bite, no pup, you had might as well have mated a statue!”

“ ** _Bruce_**.” Thor’s sharp tone had him jerking back in surprise, unused to hearing it from his placid mate save for in battle. “I do. Not. Care.”

His gaze softened and he laid a gentle kiss on Bruce’s slack mouth, gathering him close.

“You do…wish to have pups, yes? You seem so excited for Howard and Clint’s.”

“I do! I do want children. That’s what hurts about not being able to have them.” Bruce whispered the last few words, blinking when Thor placed a kiss on his forehead.

“We could always raise a child not of our own. Give them a chance at the life they might not have had.”

Bruce opened his mouth to question Thor’s words, seeing if he was truthful, before the look in his mate’s eyes gave him pause. Of course. Loki had been adopted, and while he was now bitter and angry because of the lies, Bruce shuddered to think of what would have happened to the small infant Thor had told him about. Asgard was not a kind place, and from what he’d heard, Jotunheim was worse.

“I think that sounds…nice.” Bruce murmured finally, Thor’s wide grin making all his worries disappear.

“But in the meantime,” Thor purred, reaching down to where Bruce was still slightly open and slick from the minor heat and brushing against his hole with a teasing stroke. “We can always enjoy the act of breeding.”

Bruce shuddered even as he chuckled, the end cut off in a whine when Thor sank his fingers deep. Thor’s gentle hand on his jaw had him looking back towards the waterfall, biting his lip at the sight of Thor’s intense gaze over his shoulder.

“I wish you to watch as I take you. Watch how beautiful you are in your surrender, my love. See why I think you are worthy.”

The idea of protesting the words was quickly removed as Thor lined his cock up and drew Bruce back upon it, his moan punctuating the sound of rushing water as his mate slid home within him. Bruce writhed against his mate’s body, amazed, as he was every time, at just how _big_ the alien Canidae felt in this position. Thor was big to begin with, but sitting like he was, practically impaled on his lover, he felt so much larger.

Thor started a harsh rhythm, fucking whines and whimpers from Bruce’s throat, even as the scientist kept his eyes locked on the picture they made. In this way, whether from the room or the dopamine from sex, even he could see his beauty. The thick, unmanageable curls that he hated hung loose in the heat, uncurling slightly to frame his face in an…adorable way. His pale body glowed from the water, looking almost ethereal in a way Bruce never suspected he could.

Bruce was torn from his ruminations when Thor grasped his hips and yanked him backwards, his eyes sliding closed as Thor’s huge cock rammed directly into his prostate. Thor reached up with one hand, pulling his bottom lip away from his teeth, Bruce unaware that he’d even been biting it.

“Let me hear you, Kompis. You have the most delectable mouth when I’m inside you.”

The low growl had Bruce whimpering, clinging to Thor’s forearms when his hand returned to his hips and using the leverage to fuck himself back harder on his mate. Bruce could hardly think past the pleasure, but let his mouth fall open regardless, his usual ramblings pouring out.

“Feels so good, Thor, _so good_. God, I love how you feel inside me. So thick and huge. Never had anyone like you, never will again. No one. You stretch me out, fuck me open until nothing but you can fill the hole.”

“No one else.” Thor snarled in agreement, Bruce gasping at the possession in his tone even as his eyes slid open.

He watched himself, lost in the pleasure, as his hand snaked under the water to grip his cock, pumping furiously as Thor pushed them both towards climax.

“No. No one. I lo—oh, **yes** , right there!—love you so much, Thor. Yours forever.”

“ _Worthy_ of me.” Thor growled, testing his teeth against the edge of Bruce’s bonding mark and making the pit arch backwards, driving himself harder against the god.

“Y-Yes! Worthy of you.”

Thor howled as Bruce felt him cum within him, that same unnatural warmth flooding his hole. The sight of his mate had Bruce so close to the edge, but Thor snarling out an Asgardian phrase, something Bruce had meekly asked Sif about only to have the warrior laugh and tell him it meant ‘mine’, and locking down on his throat had him spilling over his own fingers. He threw his head back to bare more of his throat, an instinctive Kyon trait that Bruce thought he would never have, reveling in the waves of pleasure as Thor growled out and locked into him.

He released him after a while, cuddling Bruce close in the aftermath, placing gentle kisses along his nape and shoulders. Bruce panted, sagging back into his mate’s strong body, watching them in the water. In this moment, he looked…worthy.

“I am…worthy.” He murmured, Thor raising his head to grin at him over his shoulder and nod in agreement.

“Aye. Of everything.”

Bruce agreed quietly, smiling as he relaxed in Thor’s safe embrace.

“I love you.”

“And I love you, Kompis. And look forward to proving that for the rest of our days.”

“And proving it to a child, one day?”

Thor looked surprised at his words, despite their earlier conversation, even as he nodded.

“You agree? We shall find a child who needs parents and bring them into our family?”

Bruce nodded, smiling shyly as Thor whooping in happiness, gently adjusting his glasses before laying a scorching kiss on his lips. The Canidae drew back with a frown, settling them so they were slightly more comfortable before blowing a lock of hair out of his eyes.

“Speaking of pups, have you any word on the Son of Coul’s struggle?”

Bruce winced, but was glad of the subject change, the familiarity. He had told Thor early on he didn’t care for sappy moments post orgasm, preferring intelligent conversations, and while he sometimes gave into the god’s need to cuddle and whisper endearments, Bruce preferred this.

Though the topic was a negative one.

“He’s flying back in tomorrow. I’d like to be there, as protection.”

“You think he will harm Tony and Clint in his anger at their actions?”

Bruce shook his head, shoving his glasses up with an annoyed motion when they slipped from the furious movement.

“No, Phil couldn’t hurt those two if it meant saving his own life. But Clint’s pregnant, and Tony bred him without Phil’s knowledge or permission. It could be a negative situation.”

“Aye.” Thor agreed, settling back with a contemplative look, brow furrowed in worry. “We shall summon the Captain and his mates, as well as Natasha and Pepper. They will need all the support we can muster if the Son of Coul is to keep his calm. It shall be…interesting.”

“That’s one word for it.” Bruce murmured, sinking into the cradle of his mate’s arms and smiling when the movement pulled at their tie.

Tomorrow was going to be interesting for sure, and Bruce could only hope that it went as well as Howard said it would. The engineer had hopes for his son and his mates, and Bruce shared those, though his view was more realistic. In any case, for tonight he was going to make love to his mate a few more times, revel in the certainty of their mating. He was worthy of the prince of Asgard, worthy of a god’s love, and now that Bruce knew it, he felt taller than the Other Guy—who was still sleeping peacefully and _really?_ Apparently he needed to visit Asgard more often—and bulletproof. Which was perfect, for the situation.

Tony and Clint were going to need all the strong back-up they could get.


	12. Guess It's Gonna Have To Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony Stark has to juggle a hormonal mate and a pissed off one. Luckily, Daddy might have a plan to help him out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapterrrrrrr. Sorry it's a bit shorter than what you probably expected, it was pretty draining to write someone whose in love with two people be really pissed at them :( But everything will get better!
> 
> Also! I created a tumblr! Basically it's for anyone to ask the characters in any of my series' questions or to ask me questions. Or silently laugh at the shit I post when I'm trying to write and my character's are giving me hell. 
> 
> momomomma2.tumblr.com. Come see me! Come ask them questions! ~~Give me reasons to character build!~~

“This is shit weather. I hope his plane lands on time.”

Tony glanced out at the storm going outside, wincing at the loud crack of thunder, before looking back to where Clint was tearing clothes out of the dresser, holding up shirts for a moment before tossing them aside. It was obvious the lynx wasn’t listening to him, and Tony grinned at the antics, propping his chin in his hand as he lay on the bed and grinning.

“I can’t wait to have Phil back. Missed our Felis something bad, huh?”

“Mmhm.” Clint murmured distractedly, holding up yet another shirt and scowling at it before throwing it into the growing pile.

“I wonder what he’ll do first. I know I’m always hungry after long flights.”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe he’ll just want to fuck. God, I missed his cock. So thick and hits just the right spots.”

“Me too.”

“And I love when he gets all possessive, just pins us down and wrecks us open. Love aching for days.”

“Yup.”

“And I especially love when he puts us in pretty dresses and underwear, but spraying hairspray on my butt so the panties don’t ride up is a pain.”

Clint started to make another agreement before swinging his head around and goggling at Tony.

“Excuse me?!”

Tony laughed and shoved himself off the bed, going over to where the younger Felidae was sitting and kneeling down next to him.

“What in the world are you doing, Clinty-cat?”

Clint frowned and waved the shirt he was holding before throwing it with a huff, crossing his arms.

“I can’t find the right shirt! I’m getting fat and nothing fits me anymore!”

Tony bit his lip and glanced down at the teeny tiny swell of Clint’s belly, not sure exactly how to handle the situation. Man, he’d watched Steve and Bucky stop Howard’s pregnancy tantrums with a few words, and the whole time he’d been swearing to himself Clint would never act like that.

Which was true. Clint was not like Howard.

Clint was worse.

“You can wear one of mine, if you’d like. I have that one—“

“No!” Clint snapped, uncrossing his arms to smack at the floor near his hips. “I want my own clothes! But none of them fit right and I don’t want to greet my Felis in stupid clothing!”

Tony sat back on his haunches and sucked his teeth, using every bit of brainpower to figure a way out of this situation that didn’t end in Clint crying and screaming at him. He loved his Gatto, and sometimes the pregnancy mood swings were cute, but other times they turned his little lynx into a snarling, screeching monster.

Tony was really starting to wonder if Clint was carrying another designation. He’d heard cross-breed pregnancies were worse. Maybe he’d have Bruce run some preliminary tests.

“We could see if my dad has any clothes you could borrow? He dresses pretty nice, Phil would be impressed by anything you got from his closet.”

Clint narrowed his eyes suddenly before a sheen of tears appeared and his face crumpled, Tony’s heart racing at the sight.

“Of course! Why don’t I just go to _Howard_? He’s fucking perfect with his stupid skin and his stupid good pregnancy and his stupid clothes. And I’m just this ignorant little circus fuck who can’t find the right clothes and looks fat in everything he wears!” He sobbed out the last word, burying his face in his hands as Tony panicked and looked around, trying to desperately find something to distract the crying Felidae.

This. This was why he avoided pregnant people! He wasn’t _good_ at this sort of thing! He loved Clint being pregnant, it made something primal in him howl in delight, but a sobbing, screaming mate was not on his agenda of must-have’s.

To his extreme relief, there was a soft knock at the door, the kind of rap-rap-rap that heralded Howrd’s presence. Tony bolted towards the door, sliding it open and hauling Howard in by his arm, pointing to where Clint was still crying. Howard sputtered for a second before going over, settling next to Clint and speaking quietly to him.

Tony sagged against the wall when Clint leaned over to put his forehead on Howard’s shoulder, arms going around the Leporidae as his sobs quieted.

“Ahhh, pregnancy. Isn’t it grand?”

Tony shot Bucky a glare as the Canidae lounged in the doorway, grinning at him.

“Eat me, Barnes. He was crying over _clothes_. He could show up naked and Phil would be happy as hell.”

“Maybe he’s having a cross-pregnancy?” Steve suggested, leaning in past Bucky and smiling softly at the two who were now chatting with smiles on their faces, Clint’s hand on Howard’s stomach.

“That’s what I’m thinking.” Tony shoved a hand through his hair and checked his watch.

They had about fifteen minutes before Phil was due through the front door, and the countdown made his heart race once more. He was so nervous that Phil would leave them, leave the Avengers all together, over this. Tony didn’t regret his decision, Clint pregnant was hot as hell regardless of the mood swings, but he didn’t want to lose his Felis over it.

And he just might.

“Why are you guys here?” Tony asked, smiling softly at the sight of Clint pressing gentle kisses to Howard’s stomach, a grin stretching his tear streaked face.

“Figured we’d go with you to meet Phil. Be…backup, as it were.” Steve answered, Bucky striding over to join the two, tweaking Clint’s ear gently before pulling Howard into a kiss.

“Thank you.” Tony said quietly, knowing he would need all the help he could, if only to force Phil to wait to scream at them.

Steve nodded before clapping his hands, bringing everyone’s gazes towards him. Tony almost sighed aloud to see that his dad had somehow gotten Clint into a shirt without waterworks, but wisely kept it in lest he start another crying jag.

“Alright, guys. Let’s head down to meet Phil.”

“Might wanna grab him a towel.” Bucky said, nodding to the storm outside and helping the two pregnant males to their feet, Howard leaning into him as Clint crossed to nuzzle into Tony’s throat.

They filed out as Clint quietly apologized, Tony linking their hands and licking over his bonding bite with a smile, silently assuring him he was forgiven.

“Do you want to grab Phil something?” He asked, Clint shaking his head in response.

“No. He’ll want to talk to us in private anyways, so we’ll be coming back here regardless.”

Tony nodded sharply, pressing one last hard kiss to Clint’s lips before leading him out. Tony’s heart was jackrabbiting in his chest the entire time, though it did slow a bit seeing everyone gathered in the main living room. Bruce was curled up in Thor’s lap, chatting quietly with Pepper who was mimicking his position, Natasha and Thor watching their mates with amusement. Steve, Bucky, and Howard had taken up the loveseat, his dad settled between the two as they stroked his stomach, silly grins on all their faces.

Tony pulled Clint gently to the couch that faced the elevator and set with him, clutching his hand tightly. He could feel the sweat forming between their palms—which, nasty, but the things you do for love, right?—but kept his tight hold, watching the clock count down.

Right on time—and sometimes Tony _hated_ how punctual Phil was—the elevator doors slid open and Phil stepped through, looking soaked, tired, and irritated. But his face stretched into a wide smile at the sight of everyone and he dropped his briefcase, opening his arms wide. Regardless of his nerves, Tony hopped up and sped at the older Felidae, jumping into his arms and purring happily when Phil held him close and licked over his throat.

“Mmmm, I missed you.” Phil growled, Tony practically melting in his arms when he bit down on the curve of his jaw, shudders running through his body.

“Missed you.” He whispered back, stiffening when soft footfalls heralded Clint’s approach.

Phil frowned when Tony drew back, no doubt at his uncharacteristic actions, but brightened at the sight of Clint, striding forward to hold the Gatto to him. Clint hugged him desperately, fisting hands in Phil’s soaked jacket. Tony could visibly _see_ when Phil scented the change in Clint, the man’s spine stiffening, ears laying low and tail wrapping between his legs.

He stepped back, pulling from Clint’s hold and stared at him, the corners of his mouth pulled down. Tony stepped up and took a stand next to Clint, letting the lynx grab hold of his hand for support, even though he winced at the hard hold that dug nails into his flesh. Phil looked shocked, appropriately, but the darkness in his gaze had Tony fighting off a wince. There was a rage in those eyes, as well as deep hurt, and ever primal instinct Tony had was telling him to dip his chin, to protect his throat from the panther’s harsh bite.

“What did you do?” Phil growled out, so low it vibrated inside Tony’s chest and had Clint stepping backwards, one hand protectively over his stomach.

Tony could see the movement hurt Phil worse, going by the way the rage slipped off, leaving behind pure pain in his eyes. He couldn’t talk—could barely fucking _breathe_ —as Phil ran agitated fingers through his hair, chest heaving as he fought for control. But Tony was a Felis too, if a submissive one, and instinct drove him to step in front of Clint, protecting his pregnant mate even from a non-threat.

“We…Phil, understand, please. We wanted a baby. And we figured, since it’s your bloodline you think is bad—“

“You went behind my back.” Phil said snapped out, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. Tony took another step back, glancing away when he didn’t run into Clint to see that the lynx was backing up too, Howard having moved from his place on the couch to right behind him, a defiant gleam in his eyes.

“Calm yourself, Son of Coul.” Thor said, coming up next to Tony, his stance widened and ears laid low, like he expected Phil to snap at him.

“Calm myself?! Thor, all of you, out. Now.” Phil ordered sharply, something in Tony snapping to attention at the sound of his voice. He could see Pepper and Bruce re-acting similarly, stepping closer to the exit, even Bucky flinching into movement at the Alpha command. Yet none of the other’s moved, all glancing at Clint and Tony while Thor held Phil’s gaze.

Tony shakily nodded, knowing it was better to face this alone in a common area, rather than try and hash it out in a group then go to the privacy of their room. Phil would be more upset if he was made to wait to get his emotions out properly, the backlash being a hell of a lot harsher. Clint copied the motion, head bobbing as the others looked around at everyone uneasily.

“It’s alright, guys. Thanks for welcoming him home with us. But we’d like a little privacy.” Tony said, indicating the elevator with a sweep of his hand.

The others looked torn but filed past, Thor leaning in to whisper something to Phil that had him losing a bit of color, looking away. Tony winced when he visibly _saw_ the fight start to leave Phil at whatever Thor had said, wishing his hearing was just a bit sharper so that he could have. Howard was last to stride past Tony and he grasped his cheeks, pulling him in close to place a gentle kiss on his forehead, Tony sighing and sagging into the man for a moment before straightening. They were finally alone and Tony backed up until he was right in front of Clint.

Phil went full jungle cat, pacing the room with a dangerous stride and a growl rumbling in his chest. Something primal in Tony was urging him to run, especially with Clint, but he kept his feet planted. He’d never been the type to run from anyone, especially Phil, and he wasn’t about to start.

Phil finally came to a stop, staring at them with flashing eyes and running a hand over his face.

“Look, I won’t say I’m not furious. You deliberately went against my wishes. But I understand your urge and I love you both. Give…me time to adjust to this. And I’m sure I will.”

Tony opened his mouth and held up his hand, prepared to say something—though, really, what the _fuck_ could you say in this situation?—but the look on Phil’s face had him stopping. He really looked torn, anger still radiating in his shoulders, but a defeated hurt lingered in his eyes. Phil looked like he’d had the whole damn world crash around his soaked shoulders, and Tony, though he didn’t regret his decision to breed their Gatto, felt the pain of hurting a mate.

“Alright.” Clint said quietly behind him, Tony starting and twisting to see the lynx shifting uncomfortably.

He made his way over to Phil, Tony watching and wincing every single time Clint hesitated or tripped up on the long journey. Phil’s hands clenched into fists, but he accepted Clint’s hug, even placing his hands on Clint’s slightly thickened hips. He gave the lynx a gentle kiss, Tony slinking over to accept his own hug and kiss.

“I love you.” Tony whispered into Phil’s throat, his ears lying flat and tail tucking tightly between his legs.

Phil drew back with a sigh, taking Clint’s hand and keeping a hold of one of Tony’s, looking at them.

“I love you both. Don’t doubt that. Just…give me time, alright?”

Tony nodded and led Clint away, shooting a glace backwards at where Phil was standing, the heels of his hands pressed into his eyes, shoulders slumped. A burning pain was working its way up his throat, but he couldn’t fall apart. He needed to be the strong one right now. Especially because Clint was softly sobbing next to him, clinging to his body tightly.

Sometimes, it really sucked being a Felis.

***************************

“What a complete….complete….”

“Asshole?” Bucky suggested from where he was lying across the bed, watching Howard pace back and forth, wearing a path in their bedroom floor.

Steve was hovering close by, a frown on his face, though he’d stopped insisting Howard sit down after the rabbit had winged a book at him. Howard stopped in front of the bed, hands on his ample hips, ignoring Steve and Bucky’s instinctive growls at the arousing sight their mate made.

“I have to help somehow! Tony’s my son, and he’s unhappy.”

“What could you do?” Steve asked gently, settling on the edge of the bed near Bucky’s feet, resting an absent hand on the collie’s leg.

Howard made an aggravated noise and ran his hands down the length of his ears, catching the ends and tugging on them in distress. It was an old habit, one Peggy had often laughed at him for, usually in between swatting at the tips of them. Howard frowned and lost himself in thought at the memories. If Peggy was here, what would she do? The lioness had been one of the strongest people Howard had met, and she would know exactly how to fix this.

He let go of his ears with a quick motion that had them bouncing, grinning at the thought that had crossed his mind. Howard slunk to the bed and settled between his mates, shivering when Steve and Bucky leaned up to instantly nuzzle into his cheeks.

“Can I beg a favor?”

“Prefer you beg for somethin’ else.” Bucky growled, dipping his head to lick at his throat.

Howard shivered but shoved him away, the Canidae huffing before propping his chin on Howard’s shoulder.

“What do you need, Coniglio?” Steve asked, tangling their fingers together and brushing a soft kiss against his cheek.

“I have an idea. And I think maybe it could help Phil come to grips with what’s going on. But…”

“But what?” Steve prompted when Howard fell silent, teeth digging into his bottom lip.

Could he really ask this? Could he go so far? Howard ran a hand over his ears and dug his teeth in just a bit more. Phil was an attractive man, and he was good to Howard. And if it helped, then why the hell not?

“Can I go to him? Teach him being with someone who’s pregnant isn’t the end of the world?”

Steve barked out a laugh and bit into his throat while Bucky growled, running a possessive hand over Howard’s stomach.

“You wanna lay with him, Howie? Want him to fuck you?”

Howard nodded so hard at Steve’s low rumble his ears flopped forwards, and Steve laughed before leaning around Howard to look at Bucky.

“I’m fine with it. How about you, Buck?”

The collie stretched luxuriously, before shoving himself up to pull Howard into a harsh kiss, nipping at his lips. Once he drew back, he bit at the tip of Howard’s ear, sending a shudder down the rabbit’s spine.

“S’alright with me. Might be nice to bottom for a night or so. But there’s a deal here.”

“Deal?” Howard echoed, while Steve grumbled his assent and gnawed on the side of Howard’s throat.

“We get to fuck you tonight. Fill you up and mark you.”

Howard shivered and nodded, laughing when his mates instantly, and yet still so gently, maneuvered him to lay on his back. He made a note to make sure it was alright with Tony and Clint, just to check. The relationship was fragile as is, he didn’t want to do anything they weren’t alright with. Those thoughts, and all his other’s, were soon gone as Bucky and Steve started sucking on his ears, yanking on the waistband of his pants, the sweet smell of his heat filling the room.

God, he loved being a Coniglio.


	13. I'll Do Anything, You Need Only Ask

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Howard makes a great point, breaks through to Phil, and our favorite Felis makes peace with his mates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy cow! This took forever and I am so sorry. I kept trying to work in angry porn and I finally figured out that's not what the characters wanted. So I hope you guys enjoy this ending to the P/C/T era (Bruce and Thor are next!) and I'm on tumblr now at momomomma2.tumblr.com so if you guys want to chat about the story (or anything else) come find me! :D

Phil ran a hand through his hair, ears flicking against his palm, as he settled heavily into the couch. It had been a rough couple of days, between trying to work through the issues he had, balancing SHIELD and Avenger business, and enduring the pain of leaving Tony and Clint’s bed every night. He wanted to sleep with them, so badly, and yet he couldn’t. Not just yet.

So instead Tony had offered him use of one of the guest floors, and Phil had made himself a temporary den. He still played with the two, cuddling with them on the couch as they whispered soft apologies to one another, Phil trying to get closer and closer to being able to touch Clint’s stomach every time. He was almost there but something about it still made him flinch away, even if the look of hurt that flashed across Clint’s face every time made him want to throw up. He was wholly disgusted with himself, but something in him stopped him.

The ding of the elevator brought his head up and Phil blinked in surprise at the sight of Howard stepping out onto his floor, gaze bouncing around before landing on Phil with the intensity not generally seen in Leporidae.

“Howard? Is something wrong?” Phil eyed his stomach warily, the generous curve of Howard’s form stretching out Steve’s old SSR shirt.

Howard stomped towards him, a thunderous expression on his face, settling heavily next to him. Phil blinked at the Leporidae, at the way his ears were laid low, brushing against his cheeks, and his crossed arms.

“Yes, something is very wrong.” Howard snapped out, ears bristling as he uncrossed his arms and laid one palm on his belly. “Your behavior is atrocious. Clint is still your mate, as is Tony, and the way you’re treating them—“

“Is absolutely none of your business.” Phil hissed, his instincts peaking at the rabbit’s insolence.

Howard bared his teeth, a move no doubt learned from his mates and snarled right back.

“Tony is my _child_. Of course this is my business. You’re hurting him!”

“You hurt him!” Phil pointed out sharply, taking momentarily pleasure in the way it seemed to knock Howard sideways for a moment, before feeling awful about it.

Howard had been horrified by the way he’d apparently treated Tony in this time line, and had done his level best to make up for those actions by becoming very close with him. Phil had no right to point it out in such a way. It was the verbal equivalent of a kick to the balls, and it simply wasn’t fair to the man who had, in his lifetime, done no such things.

He ran a hand through his hair once more and blew out a frustrated breath, looking over at the rabbit who had gone silent. Howard’s face was a mixture of rage and hurt, his eyes still flashing but the pain evident in the corners of his mouth. Phil reached a hand out and cupped the Leporidae’s face, exhaling quietly when Howard didn’t jerk away.

“I’m sorry. That was…out of line.”

“To be fair, so were my comments.” Howard murmured, turning his head into Phil’s palm to lay a kiss in the center, nuzzling softly.

The movements made Phil’s spine stiffen and he went to withdraw his hand when Howard captured his wrist, keeping it in place. Howard was Bucky and Steve’s mate—Bucky and Steve’s very _pregnant_ mate—and while Phil could hold his own, he wasn’t about to test his mettle against two very pissed off super-soldier Canidae.

“Howard, what are you—“

“I made sure it was alright. With your mates and mine.” Howard took his other hand and rubbed it over his stomach, glancing over at Phil with lidded eyes. “I want you to know that it’s alright. That pregnancy does not make a person fragile. That you can be with them, touch them, even make love to them. And it’s not going to break them.”

Phil felt a ball of ice lodge itself in his throat and drew backwards, already shaking his head in denial.

“Howard, I can’t—“

“Why not? I understand you have a bad history, Phil, but this…this is different.”

Phil shook his head again, stuck in the motion, even as Howard sighed and cupped his face, bringing his gaze up to meet the rabbit’s.

“Phil, you are stronger than you think. Stronger than this fear. And so are your mates. Stark men are made of iron, and Clint is just as unbreakable.”

“I’m afraid.” Phil whispered out, his voice gone hoarse and low.

Howard made a soft noise and pulled him closer, letting Phil rest his forehead on the Leporidae’s thin shoulder and stroking gentle hands up and down his back.

“I know you are. I know you’re scared and I know you have good reason to be. But think of your mates?”

“You know what the funny thing is,” Phil said, running slow hands over Howard’s back, inhaling the sweet scent of pregnancy that every designation carried when they were with child. “I was alright with it. Being on that mission, talking to Professor Xavier, I became alright with the idea. Of having young. Of breeding my mates. But I came back to the decision being made without me.”

Howard clicked his tongue sympathetically and leaned back, Phil moving away to stare at him once more.

“I understand. Better than you’d think. I didn’t get an option in being brought to this world. Maybe it did work out better in the long run, for me and for Steve and Bucky, and even Tony. But it still jerked me away into this unfamiliar world I know nothing about. From my family and friends to strangers and my mates.”

Phil bit his lip at the admission, the Felis in him demanding he comfort the Coniglio, even though Howard’s flattened ears and quivering tail said ‘leave me alone’ as obviously as a rabbit could. He nodded for him to go on, Howard swiping at the few tears that had leaked down his cheeks before opening his mouth once more.

“But I understood it. And it worked out awesome for me in the long run. And maybe this will too? For you and your mates?”

Phil exhaled a long breath before raising his hand and slowly—god, so fucking slowly he wasn’t even sure if he was moving it or if it was being pulled along by an invisible string—placing his palm flat against the swell of Howard’s stomach. The rabbit froze, like he knew any sudden movements would throw Phil out of the bravery he’d shored up. Phil ground his teeth at the need to rip his hand away, at the thought that he was going to hurt him in some way, and kept it there, slowly moving it across.

He jolted when suddenly, so quick and fleeting he instantly looked to Howard for confirmation, Phil felt a small flutter under his palm. Howard’s eyes were wide in shock but his mouth was curved into a large smile.

“He…He knows. He knows you, Phil. Would you…”

“Y-Yeah.” Phil nodded, swallowing harshly before leaning down towards Howard’s stomach, smiling a bit. “Hey there, little guy. It’s…uh, it’s your Cognato.”

There was another flutter and Phil bit back a happy noise, laughing softly at the rambunctious child. He would certainly be like his brother, if this was any indication.

“Yes, I’m happy to meet you too. Everyone is. And your brother can’t wait either.”

“Maybe he’ll have another niece or nephew to meet and grow up alongside?”

Phil bit his lip at Howard’s words and looked up into the rabbit’s soft expression. He hadn’t hurt this child. Talking to him…had actually brought about more movement. Maybe…Maybe he wasn’t a curse.

The idea hit Phil suddenly and he buried his face in his hands, fighting back tears at what he’d done.

“My god…Howard…How I’ve treated my mates…”

“You weren’t completely in the wrong.” Howard assured him, stroking over his ears softly, another hand running up and down Phil’s back. “I can see where you were right to be angry. But I can hope that you’re done? And you can make up with them?”

Phil raised his head and shook off the tears, wiping them from his cheeks and grinning at the Coniglio. He was. He could. He could go to his mates, lay with them, love them as a Felis should. If he could feel Howard’s child move against him, he could do it for his own child.

And it was his. Whether he’d bred Clint or not, that was their child. All of theirs.

“Thank you.” He whispered, Howard leaning over with a smile and planting a soft kiss on his lips.

“So we’re good? You’re alright?”

“I think I’m just fine.” Phil ran a slow gaze over his stomach before sucking his teeth and meeting the rabbit’s eyes once more. “But I don’t think sex is going to happen. It’s no offense to you, believe me. But I—“

“Want your first time with a pregnant mate to be with Clint or Tony?” Howard waved a hand and laughed, nodding in understanding. “I get that, completely. It’s not a bad idea for no sex anyways because….er….”

Howard gestured towards his chest with a shaky motion, Phil glancing down and biting back a laugh at the dark spots staining his shirt.

“Yeah, it comes in pretty suddenly. Need a new shirt?”

Howard shook his head and levered himself off the couch, smiling down at Phil.

“No, just going to head back to the room. See my mates. See what they want to do with it.” Howard shot him a wink that had Phil laughing once more, getting up to escort the rabbit back into the elevator.

Once Howard had left, he punched in the number for his mates floor, wringing his hands as he waited impatiently for the machine to complete the journey. He wasn’t sure how he would be welcomed, but he was going to try his damndest to ensure that Clint and Tony at least gave him a shot. The elevator dinged, signaling it had reached the floor in question, and Phil took a bracing breath, the doors sliding open before him. He stepped out, not venturing any further into the room, struck dumb by the sight that greeted him.

Clint was straddling Tony, both their naked bodies shining in the glow of the low lights and Tony’s reactor. Their tails were twined together and Tony was sitting up, Clint’s head bent down towards him, one hand gently playing with the lynx’s tufts.

But….they weren’t making love. There was no rolling or grinding motions to their bodies. The only movement…was Clint’s shoulders shaking as he sobbed.

Phil bit back a soft sound and quickly crossed the floor towards them, Tony’s head snapping around at the sound, mouth falling open once he spotted Phil. The tiger’s movements had Clint raising his head as well, looking towards Phil with shock, tears still streaking his face and those gorgeous eyes rimmed red. It hurt, in a way Phil wasn’t sure he’d ever experienced before, to see his mates, his loves, in such a state and to know that he’d caused it.

“Can I…” Phil gestured towards the bed, Clint and Tony nodding with hope slowly entering their eyes.

Phil quickly stripped out of his clothes and shoes, crawling into the bed next to them and laying a soft hand on Clint’s back.

“Gatto…I’m sorry for what I’ve put you through. Sorry for what I’ve put both of you through.”

“S’not like we didn’t kinda expect you to be mad.” Clint sniffed, scrubbing at his eyes and the tears on his cheeks while Tony nodded along.

“But I should have been happy you were bred. That you had done something to make yourself happy when I couldn’t. And I am, now.”

“You are?” Tony’s whisper was hoarse, like he was the one who’d been crying, and Phil nodded, reaching out with his free hand to thread it through the tiger’s black hair.

“I am. Thor told me, when I blew up at you, that a child is a gift not everyone gets. And that to those who cannot have children…anger over a child is unimaginable.”

Clint and Tony nodded dumbly, and Phil took another breath to brace himself before taking the hand buried in Tony’s hair and slowly—he still couldn’t do it quickly—moving it until he could settle it against the slight curve of Clint’s stomach.

The motion brought gasps from the throats of the two before Clint sobbed and threw himself at Phil, wrapping arms around his shoulders and burying his face in his Felis’ throat. Phil shushed him, running a soothing hand up and down his back, even as he pulled Tony in close for a kiss.

Sitting there, both his mates leaning on him in relief and support, Phil felt happier than he had in a long time. Pregnancy….was not instantaneous death. Not for his strong, bullheaded mates. Maybe his line wasn’t cursed.

Or hell, maybe it had been and it had taken two very headstrong Felidae to break it.

“I want to make love to you both.” Phil murmured, drawing back slightly, Tony nodding and licking his lips.

“Yeah, yes. Please.” Clint whispered back, spreading his legs along Phil’s hips and grinding up against him.

Phil maneuvered him slowly, still unable to be anything but painfully gentle with him, lining his cock up and letting Clint sink down on him. Their moans filled the room when Clint let his weight drop, Tony’s echoing not too long after at the sight. Phil motioned him close as Clint started to ride him, hips rising and falling in a decadent rhythm that had Phil’s breath catching in his throat. Tony slid over, nuzzling into Phil’s throat and gasping when Phil wrapped a hand around his cock, stroking it slowly.

“I’ll breed you.” Phil whispered to Tony, both the Gatto’s whining at the words, Clint burying his face in Phil’s shoulder as his pace quickened. “I will, Tony. Next time your heat hits, next month, I’ll fill you up. Breed you like you’re _meant_ to be bred.”

Tony cried out and spilled over his fist, whether from the words or Phil’s final presence, he didn’t know, but it was a sight he’d sorely missed. Tony was gorgeous in ecstasy, head thrown back, ears laid back against his skull, and the arc reactor throwing shadows onto the cut of his collarbone and jaw. Phil bit his lip, Tony falling backwards onto the pillows once Phil released him, looking like a hedonistic prince sprawled there, tail tip flicking gently back and forth.

It burned something primal in Phil, to have their kitten not come first, but in this scenario it seemed better. It…healed something inside him faster, in a way.

Clint’s whine brought Phil’s attention back to him and he nuzzled into his throat, running soothing hands up and down his back.

“Take what you need, Gatto. Let me serve you as I should have all along.”

Clint sobbed, his movements quickening at the words. Usually their couplings were rough, frantic with need and desire, but this was much softer.

As it should be under the circumstances.

Phil crested gently, Clint spilling between them and the tightening of his body pulling Phil over the edge. They were both left panting, Clint clinging to his shoulders as Tony finally moved to wrap them both in an embrace. Phil turned his head to capture the tiger’s lips, grinning a bit at the way Tony’s ears twitched in pleasure.

“So…we’re alright now?” Clint’s voice broke the softness of the moment and Phil shared a soft smile with Tony before pressing a kiss to Clint’s head, his nose wrinkling at the happy movement of Clint’s ears.

“We are perfect.”

 


	14. I Really Fucked It Up This Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce comes face to face with a brand new nightmare, and has to live through a very old one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I....I have no explanation for why this took so long. There is so much to cover in this arc, I wanted to do it purposefully, but that's still not much of an excuse. So I really do hope you guys enjoy this, and I'm hoping that I kinda set the groundworks so that future chapters will come much easier (and quicker) :D

“I think Tony and Clint and Phil made up.”

Bruce’s ears twitched at Thor’s laugh, the breath washing over them as he lounged back against the Hundr’s chest. Thor’s hands stroked over his thighs and stomach gently, bringing about goosebumps despite the warmth of the hot tub, the god laying a soft kiss on his bonding bite before replying.

“Whatever gave you that idea, Kompis?”

Bruce swatted his thigh at the teasing tone, looking over to where the three were huddled on a massive lounge chair near the other side of the balcony, Tony and Clint snuggled on either side of Phil. The panther was running gentle fingers over Clint’s stomach and the sight brought a smile to Bruce’s face. Phil had worked so hard to get over it, to get over the issues he had with pregnancy, and it was nice to see him so at ease with his mate’s once more.

It also stung in a way that Bruce was ashamed to admit. Clint was pregnant, Howard was ready to pop any day, and Tony had announced at breakfast that he was going to attempt to get pregnant during his next heat as well.

And then there was Bruce.

“Do you think about it a lot?” He asked abruptly, Thor making a questioning noise low in his throat as he reached for the bottle sitting at the edge of the tub.

Bruce turned in his lover’s arms, straddling those powerful thighs and meeting his eyes evenly, keeping his ears upright by sheer force of will though his tail curled between his legs at the thoughts in his head.

“Children? Breeding your mate?”

Thor looked thoughtful for a moment, taking a long swallow of his ale, placing it back before clearing his throat.

“Aye. Of course I do. It is natural, I think, to dream of those things. And I cannot even begin to explain how pleasing the idea of you round and full with child is to me. But,” Thor stroked a slow hand over Bruce’s stomach, leaning in to touch their noses together gently, his ears curved forward in a sign of affection. “I also dream of my mate happy and carefree. And if children, if breeding, would interfere with that, I can do without.”

Bruce let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding, smiling shyly at Thor’s open affection. He wasn’t…used to it. Wasn’t used to affection in the slightest before he came to be with the Avengers. Designations had gone out of their way to avoid him before the accident, and even afterwards. Even designations that didn’t know about the Other Guy took only look at his thin tail and short ears and took off in the other direction.

But Thor….Thor was different in every way. He thought nothing of pressing a kiss to Bruce’s mouth before leaving the lab, thought nothing of roughhousing with Bucky and Tony. Of curling his tail with Pepper’s when Natasha was on a mission and the Canidae was missing her. And it was….

“Amazing.” Bruce whispered, leaning in to give Thor a gentle kiss, one that escalated when the Hundr wrapped a hand around the back of his neck, holding him in place to deepen it.

Bruce shifted just a bit closer, the naughty side of him that Thor always brought out wondering if he could grind against the Aesir and get him to retire to the room early, when a splash of water hitting the side of his face had him sputtering and pulling away. He turned his head, ignoring Thor’s low growl of irritation, and grinned to see Howard standing there, his mates hovering behind worriedly.

“Howard, is everything alright?” Bruce asked, sliding off Thor’s lap and making his way over to the edge, bracing his forearms on it and staring down at the hand the Leporidae had splayed over his stomach.

“I’m perfectly fine.” He huffed, hooking a thumb over his shoulder at the Canidae behind him with a grimace. “But these idiots wanted to know if you could look me over. I think it’s Braxton Hicks, but you know how mates are.”

Bruce laughed, nodding and climbing from the hot tub, motioning for Thor to stay put. Howard had had the easiest pregnancy he’d ever seen, and if the rabbit thought it was false labor, that’s probably exactly what it was. But he also understood the worry of mates and what you would do to dispel that worry.

“Sure, no problem.” Bruce toweled off quickly, tossing it onto a lounge chair when he’d finished and gesturing for Howard to go inside, the Leporidae complying easily. Bruce caught Tony’s eyes, the tiger having leaned up from his spot on the lounge with a concerned frown, and shook his head, smiling a bit to reassure him. Everyone was on edge with Howard’s pregnancy, first in the tower after all, and Tony especially so given that it would be his first sibling.

Bruce hurried inside, grabbing his medical bag that someone—no doubt Steve or Bucky—had brought into the living room and rummaging through for his blood pressure cuff, looking over to where Howard sat on the couch, flanked by his mates. He made his way over, watching the movement beneath Howard’s shirt and smiled, holding the cuff up.

“Let’s check your blood pressure first, alright? How far apart are the contractions?”

Howard obligingly held his arm out so Bruce could slide the cuff on, growling at Bucky when the Canidae shifted even closer to him. It was understandable, Bucky’s worry over Bruce being too close, though it still stung in a way. Something Howard obviously picked up on given the elbow he shoved into the collie’s stomach.

“They’re not consistent. They stop whenever I move around or shift positions, but if I stay in any position for too long they come about ten minutes apart. Very quick, very short contractions.”

Bruce laughed, taking Howard’s blood pressure, satisfied that it was well within the normal range, if a bit elevated. No doubt due to his irritation with his mates. Sounded like textbook Braxton Hicks, but if Steve and Bucky were worried, Bruce would do what he had to.

“Any discharge? Sharp, shooting pains? Blood?”

“No, no, and no. I feel perfectly fine, if a bit thirsty at the moment.”

Almost like a shot, Steve and Bucky were off the couch, heading towards the kitchen and arguing amongst themselves about whether Howard needed juice or water. Howard gave them an irritated look before turning to Bruce with a huff, rubbing a hand over his stomach.

“I really am sorry to trouble you, Bruce. Steve and Bucky have been going mad over the impending labor. And it’s honestly driving me a little nuts too.”

“Stress isn’t good for people this far along in pregnancy.” Bruce chided gently, kneeling to lay a gentle hand on Howard’s stomach, smiling at the movement from within. “It could send you into _actual_ labor. Do they know that?”

“They do.” Howard sighed, leaning back a bit to give him more room to feel around. “I just don’t think they realize how much their stressing stresses me.”

“Make a point to bring it up to them.” Bruce murmured, feeling around carefully, ears twitching at the sound of footsteps returning and Bucky’s low growl.

“Would you **stop**!” Howard snapped at the Canidae, Bruce climbing to his feet and taking a step back. “I’m stressed enough as is, and you snapping at everyone who comes within two feet of me isn’t helping anything!”

Bucky’s ears instantly flattened, tail tucking between his legs as he murmured an apology, settling next to Howard and handing him the bottle of water. Steve motioned Bruce away from the two that were talking quietly, Howard nuzzling Bucky softly, ears flicking.

“So what’s the prognosis?” Steve asked, crossing his arms once they were a couple of feet away, keeping one ear twisted towards the two.

“Textbook Braxton Hicks. Howard was right, as I thought he might be. Look, Steve,” Bruce laid a hand on the retriever’s arm, Steve focusing on him instantly at the touch.

He could practically _smell_ the tension radiating off the retriever and winced, putting that down as another reason in the ‘no’ column to have kids. Thor would be a complete wreck and Bruce couldn’t really handle the kind of pressure Howard was dealing with.

If the man that survived a _world war_ was stressing, god knows how Bruce would react.

“No one knows their body better than someone who’s pregnant. Howard will know when something is not right. Trust him, trust his judgment.”

“I know,” Steve shoved a hand through his hair, tail swinging behind him in agitation. “It’s just hard. We went so long without Howard, losing him now—for any reason—would be devastating.”

Bruce nodded, not really sure how to respond, and gave Steve a small smile, clapping him on the shoulder before saying his goodbyes and striding back out to the balcony. He stopped in the doorjambs once he got there, blinking in surprise at the view in front of him. Thor and Phil were standing in front of Hermod, who had been introduced to Bruce the last time he’d been in Asgard.

The god was a messenger, and Bruce wasn’t sure what business he had here. He slunk up to the group, ears laid low, shooting a look to where Tony and Clint were curled on the sofa. If Tony wasn’t snarling at the massive alien Canidae—or Phil, for that matter, as they were both protective Feles with a pregnant mate—then Bruce shouldn’t be so worried.

But Bruce was Bruce, and not being worried was like asking for life to punch you in the face.

“Is everything alright?” He asked cautiously, Thor turning at his voice with a soft smile, pulling him into his arms and brushing a kiss on his forehead.

“Aye. Hermod came with a message for me. My father and mother ask for our presence in Asgard post haste.”

Bruce frowned, sinking into Thor’s embrace.

“Any particular reason why?”

“Did Reindeer Games go nuts again?” Tony quipped, Phil shushing him with a pointed look, the tiger pouting before curling back into his mate.

Thor seemed uneasy for a moment, shifting against him, like he wasn’t going to answer, when Hermod did for him.

“The populace of Asgard has questioned your loyalty to their prince. He lacks a bonding mark, after all. They are rallying for a test of your fidelity to him. The Allfather wishes to circumvent this as best he can, and as such, demands you visit Asgard to fully consummate your bonding.”

“Con….sumate?” Bruce wasn’t ashamed to say his voice cracked on the last syllable, looking up at Thor with wide eyes.

The Hundr snarled at his Asgardian visitor, the Canidae taking a step back at the bass noise vibrating through his chest, before reaching down to brush a curl away from Bruce’s forehead.

“Aye. If I know my father, and I know him well, he will demand, at the very least, that you gift me your bite.”

“And at most?” Bruce snapped out, stepping away and breathing deeply to stop the raging of the Other Guy under his skin, both of them rebelling against the force.

He saw Phil and Tony hurrying Clint off the balcony at his motion and couldn’t even blame them. Bruce felt disjointed, disconnected, like the Other Guy was seconds away from taking over. He _hated_ being backed into corners, forced to do things, and the last thing he ever thought he’d be forced to do was bonding bite someone.

Thor shifted uncomfortably, looking torn between coming closer and keeping away to let him regulate himself, heaving a sigh before answering.

“At most, he will wish for us to attempt to conceive. My father believes in having heirs, Kompis.”

Bruce felt like he’d been knocked upside the head, taking a few steps back and slamming into someone, spinning to see Steve standing there with a placid look on his face, body tensed. He could see past the retriever’s shoulder, to where Bucky and Howard had joined the Felidae trio, watching with wary eyes.

He took a deep breath, forcibly relaxing every muscle from his ears to his toes, turning back to Thor and Hermod with a smile that was barely more than a baring of teeth.

“And what will he do if I refuse? On both counts.”

Hermod snarled something in Asgardian at Thor, the Hundr responding with a flattening of his ears and snarl of his own, moving in front of Bruce. The situation was suddenly charged once more, and Bruce didn’t blame Steve in the slightest for adding his own snarl to the mix before a clear voice cut through all the growling, bringing everyone’s heads around.

“Hermod, Thor, that is _enough_.”

Thor looked flabbergasted for a minute, no doubt exactly how Bruce looked as well, staring at the Felidae that had somehow silently appeared on the other end of the balcony and was making her way towards them.

“Mother?!”

 

 

 

Frigga placed her hands on her hips and glared at the assembled Canidae, Thor and Hermod withering under her stare as even Steve laid his ears and tail flat, backing a few steps away with a respectful incline of his head.

The Felidae goddess strode towards him, Bruce stiffening under her eyes but relaxing slightly when a gentle smile curved her lips. She placed a soft hand on his shoulder, like she knew how tightly he was strung, and nodded her head towards the inside of the Tower, a human gesture that seemed so….foreign on such an alien designation.

“I wish to speak with my svigersønn in private, please. It will only take a moment.”

Hermod bowed slightly before disappearing in a flash of light, Thor looking troubled as Steve nodded, tugging him inside by the arm. Once they had all gone and the doors had shut them away, Frigga removed her hand and gave him another smile, smoothing down the front of her dress.

“I apologize for my sudden appearance, Healer, but as I had recently become aware of what my husband has ordered, I though it prudent to come for a visit.”

Bruce crossed his arms self-consciously, feeling, as he always did around Asgardians, like he somehow didn’t—or couldn’t—measure up. He kept his ears high and tail out from between his legs by sheer determination, unwilling to look completely cowed. Frigga smiled at him, no doubt used to posturing from her warriors, and seemed to be waiting for Bruce’s response before continuing.

“Uhhh, yeah. I’m not….happy with that decision.”

“And I did not expect you would be.” She returned gently, making her way over to the hot tub that sat still, water reflecting the moon and stars above.

Bruce followed, tugged along by an unknown desire to please her. Guess that was how it was for a Canidae when it came to their Canem’s family.

“My husband’s decision is….understandable, yet rash. I only wish he had conferred with me about it before sending Hermod.”

“He didn’t ask you?” That shocked Bruce. The two seemed to have a very equal relationship, so it seemed odd Odin wouldn’t even inform her at the very least.

Frigga shook her head with a small smile, dragging gentle fingers through the water.

“My husband does not always confer with me about decisions. He is often rash when it comes to Thor.” Her lips curled in the corners, an amused look flashing across her face. “He and Thor are very much alike, more so than they think.”

Bruce couldn’t help but huff a laugh at the truth in that, staring down into the water as well. He was almost afraid to ask the question that lingered on his lips, afraid of her response, afraid….of what he might have to do to keep his mate.

“I don’t…” He ran an agitated hand through his hair, tail swishing behind him in jerky movements. “Frigga, my past, that created the Other Guy, it may have rendered me….infertile.”

There was a shocked gasp to his side, one that had Bruce closing his eyes and trying to breathe around the lump in his throat. Damnit. He knew—he just **knew** —she was regretting blessing their bonding. What good was a mate who couldn’t give a prince his heir? What good could come of a mate that wasn’t even able to bear children?

Frigga laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and Bruce steeled himself, turning into her, ready to be struck for his omissions. He was shocked when the goddess tugged him into a hug, burying her face in his hair and stroking a gentle hand down his back. A shudder ran through him, his body warring with his mind, one urging him to lean into the softness and warmth, another telling him to run before her gentleness became vicious.

“I am truly sorry for that.” She murmured softly, tail flicking against his palm in a gentle stroke. “Children are beautiful, gifts to their parents. And it hurts me that you shall never know that joy.”

He couldn’t….He couldn’t hold himself back. Bruce sobbed, clutching handfuls of her dress and burying his face into the soft cloth. Frigga, in accordance to what he’d expect of a mother of her caliber, simply murmured soothing words, stroking a hand up and down his back. She let him cry his fill, shushing his aborted attempts at speech, until his breathing had regulated and he was calm once more.

Bruce drew back, cheeks flushing at his behavior, tugging off his glasses to swipe at his eyes. He saw Frigga make a motion to someone behind him, and turned slightly to see Thor hovering by the closed door, mouth drawn in a stern line with sadness in his eyes. Bruce gave him a weak smile, something that only slightly mollified the Hundr, allowing Steve to draw him back to where the others had congregated.

“There is nothing that can be done? Thor has spoken of the miracles Midgardian healers can perform. None of them could assist in any way?”

Bruce shook his head, sliding his glasses back on and focusing on the Felidae.

“I don’t honestly know. My blood, everything about me, is a biological hazard. So I’ve never trusted anyone to get close enough. But it’s a logical conclusion, and my heats aren’t even regular. So I can assume, even if I don’t know.”

Frigga frowned, her tail lashing behind her in a way that belied what she was trying to hide and she sighed.

“I will speak with my husband about this. I cannot say what his response will be, but at the very least, he should know this information before he makes such demands. However, he will not stray from his desire to have Thor bear your mating mark.”

Bruce couldn’t hold down the snarl, pacing around to the other side of the tub and trying to keep his gaze down so he didn’t glare at her. That anyone—god or no—thought they could _demand_ someone be given a bonding bite, was ridiculous! There was damn good reason Bruce wasn’t willing to do such a thing, and they should respect that.

“And you?” He growled out, staring down at the water and trailing his fingers through it.

He could _feel_ his skin shading green, the Other Guy raging inside him, triggered by his feelings, and Bruce fought him down viciously. He doubted anything good would come of Him making an appearance right now.

“I,” Bruce could see her struggling for the right words. “I cannot say that I do not share this desire. I am a mother, all I have ever wanted for my sons is the best. But you have explained the dangers, and as a healer I understand those well. It is something I desire, but am wary of.”

Diplomatic enough answer, and one that had Bruce’s teeth on edge.

“Fine.” He slammed his palms down on the edge of the tub, the slick material cracking under his palms that were shading a dark evergreen.

“You want me to gift him my bonding bite? It’s so _goddamn_ important to you people that you’re willing to put his **life** at risk for it?! Then fine. I’ll give him the thing.”

Bruce strode away, shoving through the throng of people that had gathered to watch their conversation. He snarled back at Bucky when the collie bared his teeth, tugging Howard behind him, and made way for the elevator, punching in the number for his room and only breathing easily once the doors slid shut in front of him.

Bruce collapsed against the back wall, panting for breath. He could feel the Other Guy straining to break out and closed his eyes against the internal onslaught, trying desperately to calm himself. It was ridiculous, didn’t they know he could seriously injure Thor?

Or worse!

A sob caught his next breath out, the Other Guy almost breaking through before pausing at the change in emotions, sinking towards the back as Bruce slid down the wall and began to sob, holding a hand over his mouth the muffle the sounds. The idea of hurting Thor, of hurting a mate in that way, had his stomach rolling. He almost broke out into a new wave of tears when JARVIS dimmed the lights and stopped the elevator, letting him cry in peace.

Bruce pulled him legs into his chest, burying his face in his knees and wrapping his arms around them, letting his sobs echo in the air around him. He could _see_ the blood pouring down Thor’s throat, the look of shock on his face when Bruce hurt him. He never wanted to see those scars on everyone else, not after he’d seen his mother all those years.

It took him a while but he finally calmed himself back down, cracking a sardonic smile at the way the Other Guy was shuffled to the back of his mind. Huh, seems the big guy wasn’t really fond of emotions like sadness.

Made sense, a creature of rage to be wary in the face of other emotions.

JARVIS seemed to sense the change, bringing the lights back up and continuing the elevator ride until it came to a stop on his floor, the doors sliding open smoothly. Bruce climbed to his feet and made his way out of the elevator, striding past all the things littering the floor to collapse on the couch. He sank into the plushness, tail wrapping around his waist to avoid getting smashed.

Bruce’s ears perked then laid flat when a crash of lightening heralded the boom of the balcony doors being thrown open. His head swung around, a small whine escaping his throat at the sight of Thor storming in, his eyes flashing.

“I’m—I’m sorry.” He squeaked out, lowering his head, expecting Thor to rage against him for how he’d acted and spoken to the god’s mother.

To Bruce’s shock, Thor scooped him up into his arms, burying his face in the pit bull’s hair and inhaling his scent.

“Nay, Kompis, nay. It is not you who should apologize but I. For my families actions against you. I…I cannot fathom why my father thought it appropriate to demand such a thing but I can only say that I am truly sorry for the hurt it has caused you.”

“I-I’m fine.” Bruce protested weakly, Thor shaking his head and sinking onto the couch, pulling Bruce onto his lap and brushing against the tear marks on his cheeks.

“You are not. I can smell the sadness lingering on you, my love. I am truly sorry, can you forgive me?”

Bruce hiccupped slightly, Thor’s earnest apologies bringing a new round of sadness, but he shoved the feelings aside, leaning in to capture the god’s mouth.

“Of course. It’s not your fault.” He murmured in between soft kisses, Thor stroking gentle hands over his body.

“Allow me to make it up to you regardless?” Thor asked, gently moving him so Bruce straddled the larger Canidae’s thighs, pulling their hips flush.

Bruce nodded an agreement, head tilting back on a moan as their cocks brushed together, Thor trailing soft kisses down his throat. He moved his hips in lazy thrusts against the larger Canidae, Thor trailing a hand down his back to stroke gentle fingers over his tail, the soft sensations sending shudders up his spine.

“W-We won’t get off this easy.” Bruce muttered, glad that neither of them had dressed and Thor’s chest was still bare from their dip in the hot tub, running gentle fingers over the Hundr’s muscles.

“Nay,” Thor rumbled in agreement, sucking a mark into the flesh atop his mating mark before gently setting his teeth against in, growling when Bruce moaned and arched. “My father will still demand things. Ridiculous things. We will need to leave tomorrow to make an appearance. But I will not comply to his wishes.”

The overwhelming relief the words brought had Bruce cupping the Hundr’s jaw, tugging him up into a rough kiss, the pit bucking his hips forward and delighting in his mate’s primal snarl of satisfaction.

“That’s tomorrow.” He said breathlessly, sinking his fingers into Thor’s thick locks. “Tonight? Is about you pleasing your mate, not your father.”

Thor nodded, a wary look in his eyes as Bruce grinned, dipping his head to nip at Thor’s lip and nod his head backwards slightly.

“Then please your mate. I want you to _take_ me, Thor. Up against that wall. Rough and primal. Show me how a true Asgardian prince claims his mate.”

Thor growled, something rumbling up from his chest that vibrated between them, hauling Bruce upwards into his arms and standing from the couch. Bruce let his legs fold around Thor’s hips, moaning softly when the Hundr tightened his grip on him, pulling him close, the movement of his walking grinding their cocks together through the material of their swim trunks.

He let out a little ‘oomph’ when his back hit the wall that had Thor pulling back with a concerned look, but Bruce merely smiled and yanked him into a filthy kiss, nipping at his lip once more. Thor let out a low purr, something you expected to hear from a big jungle cat rather than a Canidae and let Bruce slip from his arms, pinning him in place with his body and nosing his jaw up to suck and bite at his throat.

“I want to touch you, Kompis. Disrobe. Now.”

The order had Bruce flushing hot, scrambling to shove his trunks down and off, kicking them in the direction of the couch. Thor’s hands started to untie his own when a wicked thought flashed through Bruce’s head, the pit reaching out to still his lover’s hands, gifting him with a smile and sliding smoothly to his knees.

Thor groaned at the position, obligingly moving his hands from his body to Bruce’s hair, thumbs rubbing gentle circles on his temples right above the arms of his glasses. Bruce worked the clothing over his hips, smiling at the way Thor swung his tail up and around to brush against Bruce’s cheek in a soft caress as he did so. Once Thor had stepped out of them and Bruce had tossed them away, he swallowed hard at the sight in front of him.

Thor was…well, he was certainly in ratio with his body size. His cock was more thick than long, not that he was lacking in the latter department in any way, and Bruce was caught for a moment with the thought that always crossed his mind when he got a chance to do this.

“How in the hell do you fit that inside me?”

Thor’s laugh echoed around the room, Bruce flushing at the mirth and reaching a hand up to pump Thor’s cock, enjoying the way the laughter cut off abruptly with a groan, glad to have a distraction from his thoughtless comment.

“You are perfect for me, love. Your body opens so perfectly, as if I were made to be inside you.”

Bruce shuddered at the affectionate words, smiling as the embarrassed flush deepened on his cheeks. He leaned forward and wrapped his lips around the head of Thor’s cock, sucking gently. The Hundr’s hands tightened minutely in his hair before relaxing, Thor whining softly as Bruce slowly worked his way down, swallowing more and more until he had to pull back for air.

He didn’t let himself get more than a deep breath in, going right back to the task with relish, drawing every single sound he could from his lover until Thor’s hips jerked forwards, Bruce gagging when the head of his cock slipped into his throat. The pit pulled off and drew in a gasping breath, Thor making concerned noises and patting at his head, trying to step back away from him.

Bruce let him go, swiping a hand over the drool on his chin, and letting Thor pull him to his feet.

“I’m sorry, Kompis. You excite me so very much sometimes, I find it hard to contain myself.”

Bruce chuckled shaking his head and grabbing Thor’s hand, guiding it until the Hundr could wrap his fingers around Bruce’s own cock. He bucked into his lover’s hand when Thor growled and pumped him a few times, brushing kisses against his mouth.

“I-I want to fuck you.” Bruce muttered, threading his hands through Thor’s hair and yanking him down for another messy kiss.

Thor obligingly let go for a moment, Bruce biting his lip and watching the play of muscles in his mate’s body as he hurried to grab some oil from where they had put it in the side table a few nights previous, cleaning up after a gentle fuck on the sofa.

It wouldn’t be so gentle this time around.

Bruce could feel himself in the stages of pre-heat, his body looser in preparation for a mate, though he wasn’t emitting any scents just yet. Kinda like being in the pre-stages of a menstrual cycle for a woman, mood swings, cravings, those sorts of things occurring while his body heated up.

Which meant he’d probably over-reacted about the whole Odin thing and should probably, at the very least, apologize for snapping at Frigga the next time he saw her.

“Turn around, Kompis. Let me prepare you.”

Bruce blinked, torn from his thoughts to see Thor standing in front of him with an indulgent smile, pouring some of the oil onto his fingers. The slick made Bruce shudder and he compliantly turned, bracing his forearms on the wall and arching his back, smiling at Thor’s low rumble of satisfaction at the position.

He thought about waving his tail playfully, but before he could do more than swing it, Thor’s hand slipped between his cheeks, one slick finger teasing his hole. Bruce let out a soft moan as Thor slipped his finger inside, the thickness not nearly enough for the hunger within him. He arched backwards, silently pleading for more, whining when Thor complied and sank another finger into him.

Thor worked him open gently, at odds with the earlier fierceness of their foreplay, but completely in character for the Asgardian. Thor was always so gentle with him, in the right moments. He knew Bruce occasionally wanted it rough and fast, but if the Hundr had his way, he would spend _hours_ worshipping Bruce’s body, opening him slowly so by the time he finally sank his cock inside Bruce was half delirious with want.

Which was apparently his plan this time around.

By the time Bruce felt slick and open, Thor had three fingers thrust deep, curled within him and massaging his prostate in ways that had Bruce snarling at the feeling.

“Come on. I wanted you to _take_ me, Thor, not toy with me. Now, for gods sake, fuck me.”

Thor let out a howl, something primal and deep that had Bruce shivering at the pure Kyon _need_ to roll over and bare his neck and stomach, ranging up over him to bite at the back of his neck, pressing in close.

“Aye, Kompis? You wish for me to take you roughly? To show you how as Asgardian treats his mate?”

Bruce hissed out a yes, yelping when Thor spun him around and hauled him up once more. The sheer power flexing in Thor’s body as the Aesir balanced him against the wall, Bruce’s legs caught over the crooks of his elbows, and reached down to position himself had Bruce swallowing back drool.

He _sobbed_ when Thor finally thrust home in one slick movement, pinning him in place with the fire in his eyes and the strength of his body. Bruce didn’t have much time to adjust, Thor starting a punishing rhythm that had his hands slipping against the Hundr’s shoulders for grip, pleasure washing through him in waves that left him breathless.

Thor looked fierce when they fucked like this, teeth bared, ears lying flat against his skull, eyes burning as they stared into Bruce’s own. Bruce let his head fall back against the wall, Thor’s hard thrusts moving it up and down, the pit writhing against his lover’s body. He could feel himself slipping towards the edge, untouched by anything more than Thor’s hard stomach rubbing against his cock, and felt the flush of heat wash over him.

It was too early for a true heat, but the Aesir was bringing out the beginnings in his mate, his need pulling Bruce’s own to the surface. Everything seemed so disconnected from him, awash in a haze of pleasure.

The only thing Bruce could focus on was how Thor felt against him. His cock thrusting deep, claiming him with every roll of the Hundr’s hips, his body pressing close, both protecting him and dominating him. Bruce knew one small thing could throw him over the edge and tensed when Thor leaned forwards, his mind sluggishly noting the purpose in his movements as he sped towards the edge.

The flash of pain when Thor dug his teeth into the mark had Bruce falling completely, in an orgasm more powerful than any he’d ever had. His mind was racing, trying to process everything, from Thor’s roar of completion against his skin, to the hot feeling of his mate’s cum flooding him, to the uncontrollable pleasure washing over him from the feeling of his oversensitive cock sliding against Thor’s skin, slick with his cum.

He’d never been this far gone before, never came so hard. Bruce would look back and claim it was because of his emotions running wild, because Thor’s knot swelling inside him had every logical thought process gone for the first time in his life, because Frigga’s conversation had been echoing in his mind the entire time.

Bruce leaned forward, barely aware of what he was doing, still caught in his orgasm—the longest he’d ever fucking had, and are orgasms even _supposed_ to last that long?—and sank his teeth into Thor’s neck. The Hundr howled, both pleasure and pain warring in his tone from the bite, pressing closer and muttering words of praise in Asgardian. Bruce could feel his jaw locking, panic overtaking him at the idea of hurting his mate, his mind fighting with his body to release Thor before the lock was complete, spare him from any pain.

 The booming sound of fists hitting their door was the undoing. Bruce naturally jerked, as did Thor, towards the sound, and Bruce felt his stomach drop out as Thor sank to his knees with a cry, the metallic taste of blood flooding Bruce’s mouth. Too much, it was too much to be safe, and Bruce closed his eyes tightly, sobbing as his jaw locked completely, Thor whimpering at the pain. He wanted to tell him he was sorry, wanted to tell him he’d warned him for a reason.

Wanted to go another round with that bullet and see if it fucking worked.

A voice called through the door, frantic with worry, Bruce closing his eyes against the words and wondering how in the world his life was so screwed.

“Bruce! Bruce! We need you, now! Howard was wrong, it’s not Braxton Hicks! He’s going into labor!”


	15. I Get By With A Little Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Howard has his baby, Bruce experiences strange phenomenon, and finally figures out typical rules? Even those hard, fast, always-true-no-matter-what ones? Don't apply to Asgardians.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is an end in sight! The next chapter will be the epilogue, explaining a few things, but leaving the story open for a few more. I finally realized trying to solve everything in one story wasn't possible, unless I wanted hundreds of chapters, and this was the result! So I hope you guys enjoy :D

Bruce was at a complete loss as to what to do, except for strain at his jaw muscles in a desperate attempt to open them. Thor was incredibly quiet under him, gripping onto his hips, still a hot presence inside him. The Hundr hadn’t done any more than whimper and Bruce thought, for one blissful moment, maybe he’d been right, maybe Thor could take it. But the blood was still pumping sluggishly into his mouth, turning Bruce’s stomach with every mouthful he had to swallow.

There was still a pounding at the door, Tony’s voice more and more frantic, now threatening to use to override code to open the door. Bruce felt a flash of panic at the words, fighting back the Other Guy’s presence. If Tony came in, if he saw him like this, the Avengers wouldn’t trust him either. They’d know exactly what he was capable of and he’d be an outcast again.

Bruce closed his eyes against the tears that threatened at the idea. He’d worked so hard, so hard to find a family and a mate, and now it would all be gone.

There was a sudden cold that washed over him, like being emerged in an ice bath. Something colder than ice, if that was even possible, something as cold as the sinking feeling in his stomach. Bruce’s eyes widened as he felt his jaw start to slowly…unlock. He blinked rapidly, trying to understand, before pushing the scientist to the back and letting the mate come forward, focusing on helping his mate, not figuring out the anomaly.

Bruce strained his jaw, using as much force as he could to open it, feeling the ice intensify along his spine. It went smoother than he’d thought, like someone had hands on his jaw prying it open, and just as his mouth snapped open completely, a bright light blinded him.

Bruce shoved himself away, flattening against the wall as Thor fell backwards…into Frigga’s waiting arms. He thought for a moment, searching her gaze, that maybe she had somehow done it. But she looked as shocked as him, a glowing hand pressed to the wound on Thor’s throat, blood already slowing its path down his neck.

His mind was racing with ideas of what in the hell could _break_ a Canidae lock, but the thoughts was quickly gone when the door to the room slid open, a panicked Tony and Natasha shoving their way through.

“Bruce, what in the—What the fuck happened here?!” Tony’s voice was high with near hysteria and Bruce shot a helpless look towards where the Asgardian was now kneeling above Thor, who had relaxed back onto the floor, her hands glowing as the skin started to knit itself back together.

He was torn, wanting to help Howard and stay with his mate, until Thor shot him a soft look and motioned for him to go, blood staining his lips as he smiled. Bruce nodded sharply, hurrying to yank on his clothes haphazardly and stumble out the door, Natasha helping brace him as they hurried along.

“Everything alright?” She asked, her tone cool like she knew just how rattled he was.

Everything about Natasha radiated comfort, from the way her ears were laid low to make her seem smaller, to the way her tail was brushing his occasionally as they walked. It was nice, considering Tony, practically speed-walking ahead of them, was a ball of tension. His tail was actually wound around one of his legs and his ears were practically vibrating with the tension of them standing up. Bruce shook his head and accepted the handkerchief Natasha offered, wincing at the amount of blood that stained it when he wiped his mouth and throat, trying to clear his head as he thought about what he needed.

“How far apart are his contractions? When did he start labor?”

Natasha suddenly looked incredibly uncomfortable, shifting around and actually pulling her tail away. Were they….had he somehow…made Howard go into labor? With his blow up adding to the stress and tension? Maybe he’d read the signs wrong, mistakenly diagnosed Braxton Hicks? Bruce frowned at her before stopping dead when Tony spun in front of them, gripping his arms and meeting his eyes.

“Bruce, whatever you may think, it’s not your fault, okay?”

Bruce felt lost for words, trying to decipher the sentiment all the way until they hit the medical portion of the Tower, at which point his mind switched to medical procedures. He dressed quickly, scrubbing down in the sink outside the doors, wincing at the sounds of Howard screaming at his mates. He backed into the door, opening it with his shoulders and couldn’t help but crack a smile at the scene. Bucky was seated on the side of Howard’s bed, the Leporidae batting at him with one hand while the other one held tightly onto Clint’s, the lynx having been asked to be Howard’s birthing partner a couple weeks back.

Steve was pacing at the end of the bed and wincing every time Howard’s voice became strained through the contractions.

“—and you are **never** touching me again, do you hear me, you filthy mutt? Oh, god, just shoot me. No! **_NO_**! Do not _touch_ me, Barnes, I’ll cut your fucking hand off!”

“It might not even be my pup.” Barnes protested weakly, Howard letting out a strangled scream before whacking him upside the head once more, even Clint wincing at the dull thud.

“Are you saying you won’t love it the same if it isn’t?! What if it’s not? Will you be a fucking deadbeat?! You answer me **right now** , James Buchanan, or _so help me God_!”

“I will!” Bucky yelped, trying valiantly to gently free his ear from where the Leporidae had grabbed onto it. “Of course, I’ll love it, Howard! But I won’t be a great dad if I can’t _hear_!”

Bruce decided to step in then, clearing his throat as Howard released the collie with a huff, gritting his teeth as another contraction tightened his stomach. The rabbit met his eyes evenly, though pain flashed in their depths, and even managed a small smile.

“Guess we were both wrong, huh?”

“Sorry about that.” Bruce replied easily, slipping back into the familiar banter of doctor and patient as he strode to the end of the bed. “Babies tend to have a mind of their own when it comes to when they’ll be born.”

Howard huffed out a grin with a nod, Bruce distractedly nodding a thanks to Phil, who had scrubbed in as well, as the panther moved the tray of instruments closer.

“Ready for this?” Bruce asked, Howard nodding and laying back slightly as everyone said their goodbyes and started to file out, leaving Steve, Bucky, Clint, and Phil, who had enough training to assist Bruce.

“Alright,” Bruce said, adjusting his glasses with his knuckles and letting the flow of knowledge and procedure entering his brain distract him from the lingering thoughts about Thor. “Let’s get down to it. That little guy is ready to meet the world.”

****************************

An hour later—and good god, did Leporidae have short labors—Bruce strode from the room alongside Clint and Phil, all of them sweaty and strung out, but with smiles on their faces. Inside the room, Howard was cuddling a healthy, happy golden retriever to his chest, letting the pup suckle while Steve and Bucky petted his soft hair and tail with wonder in their eyes.

Bruce’s eyes widened to see Thor standing in the waiting room, clean markings from Bruce’s teeth left on his throat, Frigga nowhere to be found. His instinct was to go straight to his mate but Tony got in his way, tail twitching in nervousness as his eyes begged Bruce to tell him some good news. He offered the tiger a tired smile and hooked a thumb towards the room.

“Perfectly healthy. Your dad’s feeding him now, but if you give him maybe twenty minutes, you can stick your head in there and meet your new brother. Perfectly healthy little golden.”

“What’d they name him?” Tony was practically vibrating with happiness now, tail swinging freely and ears twitching atop his head.

“James Anthony.” Bruce answered with a grin, Tony letting out a whoop of happiness and clamoring to pull his mates into a hug, kissing them both fiercely.

The sight had Bruce tearing away and crossing quickly to Thor who, to his shock, yanked him into a tight hug, pressing a kiss to his brow.

“I am proud of you, my love. You handled that very well. All of it.”

“I feel like I’m gonna shake out of my skin.” Bruce admitted softly, Thor making a hushing noise and pulling him closer, leading him away.

He kept himself buried as best he could in the god’s chest, breathing in Thor’s clean scent, and trying to assure himself the Hundr was healthy and hearty as always despite the trauma. When he finally looked up, he saw that Thor had taken them into their bedroom. Bruce sat down heavily on the end of the bed, Thor kneeling between his legs and clasping his hands.

“Are you alright, Bruce?”

Bruce let out a low laugh, not meeting Thor’s eyes and rubbing his thumb over the Hundr’s knuckles.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

Thor chuckled, catching Bruce’s chin in one hand and tilting it up so their eyes met.

“Why would I not be well? You have given me a great gift!”

Bruce tugged his hands away and covered his face, tugging his glasses off to rub the heels of his palms into his eyes. He couldn’t….couldn’t believe Thor was forgiving him. So easily too. It all seemed….too odd to believe.

“How did you survive my ‘gift’?” Bruce asked, replacing his glasses and meeting Thor’s eyes, the Asgardian shifting under his gaze, settling better into his position, ears wriggling.

“My mother healed me, though even she said it did take its toll. She is fine, of course, but will need rest in Asgard to replenish the strength.” Thor’s brow drew downward suddenly, the corners of his mouth following the path as he looked away. “But she, and I, are both questioning what happened. You had told us, both of us, about the danger of the bite. And yet, as it would seem, you have exaggerated a bit, love.”

“No!” He burst out, standing and pacing around the room, running agitated hands through his hair. “No, I didn’t! No, the bite isn’t supposed to unlock like that. I didn’t do it. And I don’t know what did.”

Thor’s brow furrowed once more as he pushed himself up to perch on the end of the bed, ears quivering in thought.

“But if it was not you, then whom? Much that I wish, it was not me, nor did my mother say anything about interfering.”

“I…I don’t know.” Bruce clenched his fists, mind going a mile a minute, feeling his ears flatten to his skull in agitation. “But I’m going to find out.”

*************************

“I’ve got no idea, so far as that. To my knowledge, a lock is unbreakable until it decides to release itself.”

Bruce sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face, leaning back in his office chair, stretching as best he could. He’d been at this for a few hours now, calling up every lockjaw designation he was on remotely good terms with, trying to figure it out while Thor went to coo over the new baby.

“That’s what I thought too, Eric. But _something_ happened when I bit Thor, something odd, and whatever it was, it caused my jaw to unlock itself.”

Eric hummed down the line, murmuring something quietly to someone on his end, before sighing.

“Well, I’m afraid I can’t help. Not in that aspect, at least. I know mine certainly won’t unlock, it’s the reason I’ve refused to give Charles the bite. But there is another option you could try.”

Bruce nodded, sitting up straighter, glancing down at the list of crossed out names with a self-deprecating smile.

“That—That would be wonderful, honestly. I’ve exhausted my own options.”

Eric chuckled, Bruce unable to keep from smiling himself at hearing the aggravation in his own tone. It was…nice, to have people like Eric and the rest of his pack here, who didn’t run at the first sign of him getting irritated, instead laughing about it or joking around with him.

“I had assumed you would before you would call me for assistance. Well, and mind you, this is from what I have gleaned through Charles’ research into genetics, the lock must come from somewhere, yes? And as much as I am loathe to admit it, all Canidae can be traced back to feral roots. We share common traits with wolves, one of which being the lock. Perhaps if you could call a wolf, they might give you the answers you seek.”

Bruce blinked for a moment before groaning, slamming a palm into his forehead in frustration at having missed something so _simple_ in his frantic rush for answers. He tugged his glasses off, rubbing at his eyes even as Eric chuckled in his ear once more.

“Yeah, that would have been a logical first conclusion. Thank you, Eric. I’ll see where that leads me.”

“Of course, any information you can find about this would be beneficial to all our breeds, so it made sense to assist. Do pass along Charles’ and I’s congratulations on the new arrival, yes? And request that Phil give Charles a call when he can, he’s practically dying to meet the infant.”

Bruce agreed easily, saying his goodbyes before hanging up and putting the phone down, scrubbing both hands down his face and steepling them in front of his mouth. The next call he made might be the one that gave him the answers, but it also might be a horrible confrontation. Fury was…the only wolf he’d ever known, and while they shared a mutual respect, Bruce knew full well he didn’t trust him.

If he told the man he’d bitten and locked onto one of his Avengers….what would he do?

Bruce shook off the negative thoughts and reached for his phone once more, punching in Fury’s office number and waiting, bouncing his leg nervously as he did so. There were a few rings before it was picked up, Fury’s rough voice coming down the line, slightly out of the breath and halfway to irritated already.

“Doctor Banner, how can I help you?”

Bruce pushed himself from the seat, starting to walk in a circle around the table he’d spread his information on, gnawing at his thumbnail.

“Ah, well, I had a question. About the lock.”

There was movement in the background on Fury’s end and Bruce belatedly realized what time it was, flushing when he did. Fury was probably home by now, or wherever he went when he wasn’t actively protecting the world. His office phone was probably linked to his cell.

Which meant his slightly heightened breathing and all those sounds in the background meant he’d not only interrupted Fury’s time at home, but his time with Maria as well.

“By lock you mean the jaw lock, right?”

“Yeah, I…uh…have you ever heard of it spontaneously…unlocking?”

Bruce could practically _feel_ the other Canidae become more alert at the words, stopping in place to pick at the edge of the table as he listened.

“The only way to break a Canidae jaw lock is to shatter the jaw and pull the thing open by hand. Spontaneous? It’s impossible. Why the questions, Doctor?”

Ah…there was the leader of a covert organization coming to speak to him.

Bruce ran a hand through his hair, thinking idly he probably looked more like a hedgehog than a pit bull right about now. He inhaled sharply before trudging ahead, tail tucking between his legs in distaste for the conversation, though he kept his voice strong and steady.

“I had an instance with Thor tonight. I lost a bit of control and bit him and my jaw just….unlocked. It took a moment and I felt ice cold the whole time, just wrong, but it happened. And I can’t explain it.”

Fury let out a small sound that showed he was thinking, murmuring under his breath, repeating what Bruce had told him. There was a moment of silence before Fury exhaled a sharp breath and growled.

“Well, fuck. I’ve never heard of it, not from family stories or anything. It’s just not possible. Canidae like you, the ones who have the bite held over from wolves, it’s just as impossible for you as it is for us.”

“There’s no way?” Bruce asked helplessly, slumping down with his ass on the edge of the table, tail thumping quietly against the glass in defeat.

Fury muttered another vicious curse before huffing and going quiet once more. Bruce almost pulled the phone away from his ear to check if the wolf had hung up before he spoke once more.

“There might—and I mean **might** —be someone who knows more than me. There’s a couple wolves in California, longest pack I’ve ever known to exist together, and they might know something. Might have something in their records. I’ve got the number for one of them, he might be able to tell you something.”

Bruce nodded so hard his glasses slipped down his nose, shoving them back up as he turned to snatch a piece of paper and pen from his mess, bracing himself on the table.

“That would be fantastic, Fury. I mean, even if it’s just something—“

“I understand.” The wolf said, Bruce’s cheeks burning at the smirk in his voice as he rattled off the phone number, Bruce scrawling it down messily on the paper.

He murmured his thanks, flipping the pen between his fingers and straightening, ready to hang up when Fury spoke once more.

“And Doctor Banner?”

“Hm?”

“I do expect you’ll pass along any information you find.”

There was a threat there, underlying and low in his tone, one that had the Other Guy snarling, but Bruce tamped it down. Fury had a right to be concerned, to want the knowledge. Any person in a relationship who had that problem, leader of SHIELD or not, would want it.

“I will.”

With those words, he hung up, tossing the phone down onto the lab table and breathing deeply. With his emotions so scattered, the Other Guy had retreated for the past few hours, letting him settle on his own. Fury’s threat had brought about anger, which was the one thing he knew exactly how to deal with, and Bruce took a few moments to settle himself before he wound up letting the guy out and lost the number in the resulting chaos.

He punched in the number and drew a deep breath before sending the call through, spinning the pen nervously in his hand, beginning his pacing once more. It rang a few short times before a sleepy voice murmured a half-hearted “hullo?” in his ear. It stopped Bruce short for a few seconds, the tone not anything he’d expect to come out of the mouth of a wolf, and he blinked before pressing on.

“Um, hi, this is Doctor Bruce Banner. Nick Fury gave me this number?”

There was silence and the sounds of muffled movement in the background before a lowly spoken, “hey, sourwolf, phone call,” had Bruce arching a brow and glancing at the clock. He winced when he saw that it was barely morning there, probably just after sun up.

He really had to stop interrupting people’s sleep.

The next voice that came on the line was _exactly_ what Bruce thought a wolf should sound like, rough, tinged with suspicion and irritation.

“Hello?”

“Hi. This is, uh, Doctor Bruce Banner. Nick Fury gave me this number? I had some questions about the Canidae jaw lock.”

“Are you asking for scientific reasons, Doctor, or personal ones?” The Canidae asked, his voice audibly more agitated.

Bruce blew out a breath, trying to keep his anger down. Wolves had been the subject of study for numerous years, for numerous different reasons. Made sense this one would be suspicious of his intentions.

“Maybe I should back up a little here,” Bruce murmured with a small laugh, keeping the Other Guy down by sheer force of will at the wolf’s tone. “I called Nick Fury because I bit my mate and my jaw just…unlocked. No trauma occurring to me, nothing like that, it just spontaneously unlocked.”

“That’s not possible.” But the wolf’s voice shook like he wasn’t sure of what he was saying, like he doubted it.

“Well, possible or not, it occurred. And since I’m a pit bull, if any breed was going to be able to break that lock—“

“It wouldn’t be yours.”

Bruce muttered an agreement with the words, settling back against the edge of the table once more in the silence that fell. He waited for a while, hearing the soft murmurs on the other end of the phone, smiling a bit at the softness that entered the wolf’s voice when he spoke to whomever was there.

Seems like Fury and his mate weren’t the only one’s he’d interrupted.

Moments later the wolf spoke again, sighing before the words came out.

“I’ve got a mate. And he’s not….particularly….normal, as far as normality goes. Is your mate in any way connected to anything…more than this world?”

Bruce choked back a laugh, thinking of everything he’d experienced with Thor, of the world the Hundr lived in before coming to Earth.

“Well, he’s certainly not normal either. He’s very much connected to things out of this world, in ways you wouldn’t believe.”

“That’s it then.” There was a touch of relief to the Canidae’s voice, like he understood what Bruce meant though he had said nothing that gave Thor’s alien status away. “It’s something buried in the past of the bite, something that doesn’t allow for it to lock onto designations that are more than this world. I can’t lock onto my mate. I can bite down, but my jaw will unhinge itself within moments.”

“And you feel ice cold when it’s happening.” Bruce gripped the edges of the table tighter at the wolf’s soft agreement, blowing out a breath he was pretty sure he’d been holding since he’d locked down on Thor’s throat hours ago. “That explains everything, so much so. Thank you.”

He disconnected the call after they shared goodbye’s, not bothering to ask the wolf his name. Bruce was fairly certain he wouldn’t have gotten a real one anyways, though he was immensely grateful for the help, the wolf didn’t seem like the type of designation to spend a Sunday morning brunching with.

Bruce let out another breath of relief, starting to laugh at what his life had become. Five years ago he was on the run, snarling at shadows, afraid for every second he slept. Now he was living in luxury, sleeping peacefully with his mate by his side. A mate he couldn’t truly harm. A mate he could bite, who could wear his bite proudly, without stepping closer to death every time he did it.

He wasn’t sure when the laughter turned to sobs, or when he slid down in a heap against the edge of the desk, cradling his head in his palms. He wasn’t even really aware of Thor coming in, quiet in ways he usually wasn’t. But he was sure of the strength of his mate when Thor pulled him into his arms, of the future they had together now.

And that was more than enough for him.


End file.
